화학공학소재연구정보센터
Langmuir, Vol.28, No.5, 2620-2627, 2012
Adsorption of Plutonium Oxide Nanoparticles
Adsorption of monodisperse cubic plutonium oxide nanoparticles ("Pu-NP", [Pu38O56Clx(H2O)(y)]((40-x)+), with a fluorite-related lattice, approximately 1 nm in edge size) to the muscovite (001) basal plane from aqueous solutions was observed in situ (in 100 mM NaCl background electrolyte at pH 2.6). Uptake capacity of the surface quantified by alpha-spectrometry was 0.92 mu g Pu/cm(2), corresponding to 10.8 Pu per unit cell area (A(UC)). This amount is significantly larger than that of Pu4+ needed for satisfying the negative surface charge (0.25 Pu4+ for 1 e(-)/A(UC)). The adsorbed Pu-NPs cover 17% of the surface area, determined by X-ray reflectivity (XR). This correlates to one Pu-NP for every 14 unit cells of muscovite, suggesting that each particle compensates the charge of the unit cells onto which it adsorbs as well as those in its direct proximity. Structural investigation by resonant anomalous X-ray reflectivity distinguished two different sorption states of Pu-NPs on the surface at two different regimes of distance from the surface. A fraction of Pu is distributed within 11 angstrom from the surface. The distribution width matches the Pu-NP size, indicating that this species represents Pu-NPs adsorbed directly on the surface. Beyond the first layer, an additional fraction of sorbed Pu was observed to extend more broadly up to more than 100 angstrom from the surface. This distribution is interpreted as resulting from "stacking" or aggregation of the nanoparticles driven by sorption and accumulation of Pu-NPs at the interface although these Pu-NPs do not aggregate in the solution. These results are the first in situ observation of the interaction of nanoparticles with a charged mineral-water interface yielding information important to understanding the environmental transport of Pu and other nanophase inorganic species.