Kinetic investigation of the hydrolysis of uranium hexafluoride gas

摘要

UF _(6) is commonly employed in enrichment technologies and is known to react rapidly with water vapor to form radioactive particulates and hydrofluoric acid vapor. The kinetics of the UF _(6) hydrolysis reaction have been observed directly for the first time. The rate appears to be half order and second order for UF _(6) and water, respectively, with a rate constant of 1.19 ± 0.22 Torr ~(?3/2) s ~(?1) . The proposed mechanism involves formation of the [UF _(6) ·2H _(2) O] adduct via two separate reactions.