Kinetics of oxidation and dissolution of uranium dioxide in aqueous acid solutions

The oxidation and dissolution of UO2 has been studied using electrochemical methods with an UO2 rotating disc electrode in acidic (pH 3) and non-complexing (trifluoromethanesulfonate: 0.1 mol L−1 NaCF3SO3) media. The effect of the experimental parameters such as scan rate (v) and rotation rate (ω) on the electrochemical signal has been studied. The rotation rate of the electrode does not influence the resulting signal, which indicates that only a charge transfer is involved in the UO2 oxidation kinetic. However, scan rate variations show different reactions involved in the UO2 oxidation. Linear sweep voltammetry and cyclic voltammetry coupled to X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) measurements suggest two successive electrochemical reactions with an exchange of one electron for each of them and the formation of one intermediate species of U(V).