Issue 12, 2022

Selective electrochemical capture and release of uranyl from aqueous alkali, lanthanide, and actinide mixtures using redox-switchable carboranes

Abstract

We report the selective electrochemical biphasic capture of the uranyl cation (UO22+) from mixed-metal alkali (Cs+), lanthanide (Nd3+, Sm3+), and actinide (Th4+, UO22+) aqueous solutions to an organic, 1,2-dichloroethane (DCE), phase using the ortho-substituted nido-carborane anion, [1,2-(Ph2PO)2-1,2-C2B10H10]2− (POCb2−). The reduced POCb2− is generated by electrochemical reduction of the closo-carborane, POCb, prior to mixing with the aqueous mixed-metal solution. Subsequent UO22+ release from the captured product, [UO2(POCb)2]2−, was performed by galvanostatic bulk electrolysis of the DCE phase and back-extraction of UO22+ to a fresh aqueous phase. The selective capture and release of UO22+ was confirmed by combined ICP-OES and NMR spectral analyses of the aqueous and organic phases, respectively, against the newly synthesized nido-carborane complexes, [[CoCp*2][Cs(POCb)]]2, [CoCp*2]3[Nd(POCb)3], [CoCp*2]3[Sm(POCb)3], and [CoCp*2]2[Th(POCb)3].

Graphical abstract: Selective electrochemical capture and release of uranyl from aqueous alkali, lanthanide, and actinide mixtures using redox-switchable carboranes

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Edge Article
Submitted
19 Dec 2021
Accepted
20 Feb 2022
First published
25 Feb 2022
This article is Open Access

All publication charges for this article have been paid for by the Royal Society of Chemistry
Creative Commons BY-NC license

Chem. Sci., 2022,13, 3369-3374

Selective electrochemical capture and release of uranyl from aqueous alkali, lanthanide, and actinide mixtures using redox-switchable carboranes

M. Keener, M. Mattejat, S. Zheng, G. Wu, T. W. Hayton and G. Ménard, Chem. Sci., 2022, 13, 3369 DOI: 10.1039/D1SC07070C

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