Preparation of uranium oxide nanofibers via electrospinning


Vojtěch Kundrát^1; Zdeněk Moravec^1; Aleš Paták^2; Jiří Pinkas^1


1 Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic

2 Institute of Scientific Instruments, The Czech Academy of Sciences, Brno, Czech Republic



The goal of tis work was to prepare nanofibrous oxides of uranium. Two approaches were chosen based
on different composition of electrospinning solutions and different inorganic precursors.
Electrospinning was performed from aqueous and organic solvent based solutions. Uranyl nitrate and
2,4-pentandionate were used as precursors.  Electrospun fibers were prepared in laboratory and
pilot plant scales (Nanospider technology). Different underlay materials were studied for
collection of prepared nanofibers. The study focused also on finding a proper temperature of
nanofibrous composite calcinations. Nanofibrous uranium oxides were prepared with mean diameter
under 50 nm.  Nanofibrous triuranium octaoxide was reduced in hydrogen atmosphere and this reaction
provided nanofibrous uranium oxides with a lower oxygen content. Produced materials were analyzed
by electron microscopy, scanning transmission electron microscopy and powder X-ray diffraction.
Potential application is in heterogenous catalysis and as a precursor of nanoscopic sintered
ceramics.


References:

Kundrát, V.; (2016) Diploma thesis