An Investigation into the Effect of Specific Surface Area on the Reaction Between Silver(Ⅱ) and Plutonium Dioxide

摘要

The rate of silver(Ⅱ) electromediated dissolution of PuO_2 powders calcined at temperatures between 450℃ and 800℃ shows no clear evidence of being controlled by the specific surface area of the powder. Similarly, the rate of silver(II) buildup in such systems shows no correlation with either PuO_2 surface area or mass. No entirely satisfactory explanation for these findings has been found, but other controlling parameters are possible. Future work will attempt to determine the controlling factors and extend this work to lower specific surface area materials that are known to suffer from slower dissolution kinetics.