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Although hydrogen peroxide (H 2 O 2 ) has been highly used in nuclear chemistry for more than 75 years, the preparation and literature description of tetravalent actinide peroxides remain surprisingly scarce. A new insight is given in this topic through the synthesis and thorough structural characterization of a new peroxo compound of Pu(IV).

Historic perspectives describing f-elements as being redox "inactive" are fading. Researchers continue to discover new oxidation states that are not as inaccessible as once assumed for actinides and lanthanides. Inspired by those contributions, we studied americium(III) oxidation in aqueous media under air using NaBiO 3( s ) . We identified selective oxidation of Am 3+ ( aq ) to AmO 2 2+ ( aq ) or AmO 2 1+ ( aq ) could be achieved by changing the aqueous matrix identity. AmO 2 2+ ( aq ) formed in H 3 PO 4( aq ) (1 M) and AmO 2 1+ ( aq ) formed in dilute HCl ( aq ) (0.1 M). These americyl products were stable for weeks in solution. Also included is a method to recover 243 Am from the americium and bismuth mixtures generated during these studies.

The positive impact of having access to well-defined starting materials for applied actinide technologies - and for technologies based on other elements - cannot be overstated. Of numerous relevant 5f-element starting materials, those in complexing aqueous media find widespread use. Consider acetic acid/acetate buffered solutions as an example. These solutions provide entry into diverse technologies, from small-scale production of actinide metal to preparing radiolabeled chelates for medical applications. However, like so many aqueous solutions that contain actinides and complexing agents, 5f-element speciation in acetic acid/acetate cocktails is poorly defined. Herein, we address this problem and characterize Ac 3+ and Cm 3+ speciation as a function of increasing acetic acid/acetate concentrations (0.1 to 15 M, pH = 5.5). Results obtained via X-ray absorption and optical spectroscopy show the aquo ion dominated in dilute acetic acid/acetate solutions (0.1 M). Increasing acetic acid/acetate concentrations to 15 M increased complexation and revealed divergent reactivity between early and late actinides. A neutral Ac(H 2 O) 6 (1) (O 2 CMe) 3 (1) compound was the major species in solution for the large Ac 3+ . In contrast, smaller Cm 3+ preferred forming an anion. There were approximately four bound O 2 CMe 1- ligands and one to two inner sphere H 2 O ligands. The conclusion that increasing acetic acid/acetate concentrations increased acetate complexation was corroborated by characterizing (NH 4 ) 2 M(O 2 CMe) 5 (M = Eu 3+ , Am 3+ and Cm 3+ ) using single crystal X-ray diffraction and optical spectroscopy (absorption, emission, excitation, and excited state lifetime measurements)., Competing Interests: The authors have no conflicts of interest with this work., (This journal is © The Royal Society of Chemistry.)

Increasing access to the short-lived α-emitting radionuclide astatine-211 ( 211 At) has the potential to advance targeted α-therapeutic treatment of disease and to solve challenges facing the medical community. For example, there are numerous technical needs associated with advancing the use of 211 At in targeted α-therapy, e.g., improving 211 At chelates, developing more effective 211 At targeting, and characterizing in vivo 211 At behavior. There is an insufficient understanding of astatine chemistry to support these efforts. The chemistry of astatine is one of the least developed of all elements on the periodic table, owing to its limited supply and short half-life. Increasing access to 211 At could help address these issues and advance understanding of 211 At chemistry in general. We contribute here an extraction chromatographic processing method that simplifies 211 At production in terms of purification. It utilizes the commercially available Pre-Filter resin to rapidly (<1.5 h) isolate 211 At from irradiated bismuth targets (Bi decontamination factors ≥876 000), in reasonable yield (68-55%) and in a form that is compatible for subsequent in vivo study. We are excited about the potential of this procedure to address 211 At supply and processing/purification problems.

Actinide research at the nanoscale is gaining fundamental interest due to environmental and industrial issues. The knowledge of the local structure and speciation of actinide nanoparticles, which possibly exhibit specific physico-chemical properties in comparison to bulk materials, would help in a better and reliable description of their behaviour and reactivity. Herein, the synthesis and relevant characterization of PuO 2 and ThO 2 nanoparticles displayed as dispersed colloids, nanopowders, or nanostructured oxide powders allow to establish a clear relationship between the size of the nanocrystals constituting these oxides and their corresponding An(iv) local structure investigated by EXAFS spectroscopy. Particularly, the first oxygen shell of the probed An(iv) evidences an analogous behaviour for both Pu and Th oxides. This observation suggests that the often observed and controversial splitting of the Pu-O shell on the Fourier transformed EXAFS signal of the PuO 2 samples is attributed to a local structural disorder driven by a nanoparticle surface effect rather than to the presence of PuO 2+ x species., Competing Interests: There are no conflicts to declare., (This journal is © The Royal Society of Chemistry.)

Fundamental knowledge on intrinsic plutonium colloids is important for the prediction of plutonium behaviour in the geosphere and in engineered systems. The first synthetic route to obtain salt-free intrinsic plutonium colloids by ultrasonic treatment of PuO 2 suspensions in pure water is reported. Kinetics showed that both chemical and mechanical effects of ultrasound contribute to the mechanism of Pu colloid formation. In the first stage, fragmentation of initial PuO 2 particles provides larger surface contact between cavitation bubbles and solids. Furthermore, hydrogen formed during sonochemical water splitting enables reduction of Pu(IV) to more soluble Pu(III), which then re-oxidizes yielding Pu(IV) colloid. A comparative study of nanostructured PuO 2 and Pu colloids produced by sonochemical and hydrolytic methods, has been conducted using HRTEM, Pu L III -edge XAS, and O K-edge NEXAFS/STXM. Characterization of Pu colloids revealed a correlation between the number of Pu-O and Pu-Pu contacts and the atomic surface-to-volume ratio of the PuO 2 nanoparticles. NEXAFS indicated that oxygen state in hydrolytic Pu colloid is influenced by hydrolysed Pu(IV) species to a greater extent than in sonochemical PuO 2 nanoparticles. In general, hydrolytic and sonochemical Pu colloids can be described as core-shell nanoparticles composed of quasi-stoichiometric PuO 2 cores and hydrolyzed Pu(IV) moieties at the surface shell.

The influence of the ultrasonic frequency (20 kHz, 207 kHz, and 615 kHz) towards the formation kinetics of H2O2 under Ar and Ar/(20 vol.%)O2 atmospheres was evaluated in pure water and aqueous nitric solutions. Results obtained at low frequency ultrasound demonstrate that hydrogen peroxide formation is enhanced under an Ar/O2 gas mixture whatever the sonicated medium. Nevertheless, H2O2 yields are higher in aqueous nitric solutions whatever the nature of the saturating gas. These observations are consistent at high frequency ultrasound under Ar gas notwithstanding higher yields for H2O2. Surprisingly, an inverse tendency is observed for high frequency sonolysis carried out under an Ar/O2 atmosphere: higher yields of H2O2 are measured in pure water. Further studies in the presence of pure Ar revealed a more important decomposition of nitric acid under high frequency ultrasound leading to higher yields of both HNO2 in the liquid phase and NO in the gas phase. In the presence of Ar/O2 mixture, the intrabubble oxidation of NO causes cavitation bubble depletion in O2 leading to the drop of H2O2 yield. On the other hand, it was found that for Ar/(20 vol.%)O2 mixture there is no influence of oxygen on HNO2 yield whatever the ultrasonic frequency; this is most likely explained by two processes: (i) HNO2 formation results from nitrate-ion thermolysis in the liquid reaction zone surrounding the cavitation bubble, and (ii) effective intrabubble oxidation of NOx species by oxygen to nitrate-ion., (Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)