Little is known about the fundamental science governing the early stages of plutonium(III)-oxalate crystal growth and how the conditions of early crystal growth affect the morphology of the final product. Variations in precipitation conditions may dramatically affect the size and shape of the crystals produced and understanding how these variables affect the product provides fundamental insights into the behavior and properties of plutonium(III)-oxalate. Such insight provide a more in-depth understanding that could be used in environmental and transport studies, radioactive cleanup efforts, mixed oxide nuclear fuels or even nuclear forensics. This body of work uses a dynamic approach to study early crystal growth via in situ microscopy methods. We use plutonium(III)-oxalate, an important precursor to plutonium oxide nuclear fuels, to reveal unavailable data on the kinetics of the solid-phase transformation over time in different precipitation conditions. The approach of this work involves a combination of transmission electron microscopy (TEM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and optical microscopy to characterize the growth and morphological development of plutonium(III)-oxalate particles. Experiments have shown that different particle morphologies and sizes can be achieved from oxalate precipitation dependent on several factors, including plutonium concentration and order of reagent addition.

Multiscale microscopy study of plutonium(III)-oxalate crystal growth

2019 Spring National Meeting

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