High energy resolution X-ray spectroscopy on uranium compounds

Understanding the mechanisms of different chemical reactions with uranium at the atomic level is a key step towards safe disposal of nuclear wastes and towards the identification of physical-chemical processes of radionuclides in the environment. X-ray absorption spectroscopy in high energy resolution fluorescence detection (HERFD) mode at the U L3 and M4,5 edges together with resonant inelastic X-ray scattering (RIXS) are now common techniques for probing the uranium electronic structure and for studying the physics and chemistry of uranium-containing compounds[1], [2]. I will provide an overview of the recently performed studies[3]–[5] on uranium-containing materials at the European Synchrotron (ESRF) in Grenoble (France). I will show how the detailed information about the U oxidation state and electron-electron interactions can be obtained by a combination of experimental data and electronic structure calculations. In connection with latest results, the capabilities and limitations of the HERFD and RIXS experimental methods will be discussed in details. It might be of interest for fundamental research in chemistry and physics of actinides as well as for applied science

References:

[1] K. O. Kvashnina, S. M. Butorin, P. Martin, and P. Glatzel, “Chemical State of Complex Uranium Oxides,” Phys. Rev. Lett., vol. 111, no. 25, p. 253002, Dec. 2013, doi: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.111.253002.
[2] K. O. Kvashnina, Y. O. Kvashnin, and S. M. Butorin, “Role of resonant inelastic X-ray scattering in high-resolution core-level spectroscopy of actinide materials,” J. Electron Spectros. Relat. Phenomena, vol. 194, pp. 27–36, Jun. 2014, doi: 10.1016/j.elspec.2014.01.016.
[3] N. Boulanger et al., “Enhanced Sorption of Radionuclides by Defect-Rich Graphene Oxide,” ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces, vol. 12, no. 40, pp. 45122–45135, Oct. 2020, doi: 10.1021/acsami.0c11122.
[4] E. Gerber et al., “Insight into the structure–property relationship of UO 2 nanoparticles,” Inorg. Chem. Front., vol. 8, no. 4, pp. 1102–1110, 2021, doi: 10.1039/D0QI01140A.
[5] A. S. Kuzenkova et al., “New insights into the mechanism of graphene oxide and radionuclide interaction,” Carbon N. Y., vol. 158, pp. 291–302, Mar. 2020, doi: 10.1016/j.carbon.2019.10.003.