Loading...
Utilizing spectroscopy and electrochemistry to understand europium, terbium, and uranium redox chemistry in novel media
Hege, Nicole
Hege, Nicole
Citations
Altmetric:
Advisor
Editor
Date
Date Issued
2024
Date Submitted
Collections
Research Projects
Organizational Units
Journal Issue
Embargo Expires
2026-04-09
Abstract
The projects in this thesis span three different solution matrices—highly basic media (potassium carbonate) in Chapter 2, aqueous media (water) in Chapter 3, and highly corrosive and ionic media at high temperatures (lithium and potassium chloride molten salt) in Chapter 4. In Chapter 2, the redox properties of europium and terbium are investigated through X-ray absorption spectroscopy, UV-visible spectroscopy, near-infrared spectroscopy, and electron paramagnetic
spectroscopy showing the prevalence of trivalent oxidations states and a unique, red-hued Tb(III) complex. Chapter 3 sets the stage for Chapter 4 in which it investigates the well-known reversible redox couple of ferrocyanide in aqueous media using less common spectroelectrochemical approaches to support diffusion coefficient assessment. In Chapter 4, a multiscale electrochemical approach was used to study redox chemistry in a high temperature molten salt. In part one of this chapter, the concentration of uranium tetrachloride in the salt mixture was increased far beyond what has ever been reported and diffusion coefficients were measured through cyclic voltammetry. The second part of this chapter focused
on developing a hybrid technology capable furnace that was able to monitor the oxidation of uranium in molten salts through UV-visible spectroelectrochemistry to calculate a conditional diffusion coefficient value. Overall, this thesis provides fundamental understandings on select redox elements across a wide range of solution environments using various electrochemical and spectroscopy methods.
Associated Publications
Rights
Copyright of the original work is retained by the author.