Thermoanalytical study on the oxidation of uranium dioxides derived from uranyl nitrate,uranyl acetate and ammonium diuranate

The oxidation of UO₂ was investigated by TG, DSC and X-ray diffraction . UO₂ samples were prepared by the reduction of UO₃ at P_H2 + P_N2 = 100 + 50 mm Hg and 5°C min^?1 up to 800°C. In order to obtain six UO₂ samples with different preparative histories, UNH, UAH and ADU were used as starting materials and their thermal decomposition was carried out at 450–625°C for 0–9 h at an air flow rate of 100 ml min^?1. α-UO₃, γ-UO₃, UO₃ - 2 H₂O, and their mixtures were obtained. The reduction of UO₃ gave β-UO_2+x with different x values from 0.030 to 0.055. The oxidation carried out at P_O2 = 150 mm Hg was found to consist of oxygen uptake at room temperature. UO₂ - U₃O₇ (Step I) and U₃O₇ → U₃O₈ (Step II). TG and DSC curves of the oxidation showed two plateaus and two exothermic peaks corresponding to Steps I and II. In the case of two of the samples, the DSC peak of Step II split into two substeps, which were assumed to be due to the different reactivities of U₃O- formed from α-CO₃ and that from other types of UO₃. The increase in O/U ratio due to the oxygen uptake at room temperature changed from 0.010 to 0.042 except for a sample prepared from ADU which showed an extraordinarily large value of 0.445. TG curves showed an increase in O/U from room temperature to near 250°C for Step I and the plateau at 250–350°C where O/U was about 2.42, and showed a sharp increase in O/U above 350°C for Step II and the plateau above 100°C where O/U was 2.72–2.75. It is thought that the prepared UO₂ had a defective structure with a large interstitial volume to accommodate the excess oxygen.