Actinide and Lanthanide Electrochemistry in Room Temperature Ionic Liquid (RTIL)

David W. HatchettDepartment of Chemistry

University of Nevada, Las Vegas

Au Electrode U(0) deposits on Au Electrode

Abstract:

Room temperature ionic liquids (RTILs) are purely ionic system composes oforganic cations and inorganic/organic anions. They have high ionic conductivity, arethermally and chemically stable, and have low volatility, which makes them attractivesolvent for many applications. RTIL solutions have been used as solvent in inorganicand organic synthesis, as extraction solvents, and electrolyte in electrochemicalexperiments. Electrochemical experiments benefit from the large potential windowafforded by the cation/anion pair relative to aqueous solutions. The research presentedwill focus on the direct dissolution, extraction, and the electrochemical characterizationof actinide/lanthanide species in RTIL solutions. The electrochemical deposition oflanthanide and actinide species at electrode surfaces will be probed using the largepotential window of the RTIL solution. The ultimate goal of this research is to evaluatethe utility of RTIL solutions in reprocessing nuclear waste, extraction/separationschemes, and the potential dependent reclamation of individual species from complexmixtures.