2.22 - Transuranium Inorganic Chemistry

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Abstract

The actinide elements have gained considerable attention over the last few decades as their fundamental and basic chemistry is of the utmost importance with respect to nuclear reactors, nuclear waste, and weapons applications and dismantlement. In this chapter, the chemical and physical properties of these elements as observed in aqueous solution as well as in the crystalline, solid state are discussed. Topics, such as hydrolysis, carbonate complexation, redox chemistry, as well as binary compounds, are discussed. Considerable attention is given to neptunium and the properties of the heavier actinides highlighted.

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Matthew J. Polinski received his BA in chemistry in 2010 from Washington and Jefferson College, a private, four-year liberal arts college located in Washington, Pennsylvania. As an undergraduate researcher, he worked for Prof. Deborah Sunderland, focusing on arsenic-doped superconductors as well as synthesis of novel, porous metal oxide compounds via direct, template-free routes. As a graduate student, he joined Prof. Thomas Albrecht-Schmitt's group at the University of Notre Dame, focusing on developing the periodic trends between the trivalent lanthanides and actinides, with an emphasis on studying plutonium, americium, curium, and californium, all of which are highly underexplored.

Peter C. Burns received his BS, MS, and PhD degrees from the University of New Brunswick, University of Western Ontario, and University of Manitoba, respectively, all in Canada. Following post-doctoral appointments at the University of Cambridge and the University of New Mexico, and 1 year on the faculty at the University of Illinois, he joined the faculty of the University of Notre Dame in Indiana, USA, in 1997. He is currently Massman Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Earth Sciences and Concurrent Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry. He is also director of the US Department of Energy's Energy Frontier Research Center Materials Science of Actinides, which was created in 2009.

Thomas E. Albrecht-Schmitt received his BS in chemistry from Southwest Minnesota State University in 1993. He earned his PhD in inorganic chemistry at Northwestern University under the guidance of James A. Ibers in 1997. After a short post-doctoral at the University of Illinois with John R. Shapley, he began his independent career at Auburn University where he rose through the ranks to full professor. In 2009, he moved his program to the University of Notre Dame. In 2012, he became the Gregory R. Choppin chair in Chemistry at Florida State University. His research interests include all aspects of lanthanide and actinide chemistry, materials chemistry, environmental chemistry, and crystallography.

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