An electrophoretic investigation on the properties of the hexavalent plutonium ions in ultradiluted aqueous solutions

Abstract

Investigation on the chem is try of transuranic elements is an ex tremely com plex task. None of these elements are sta ble, they de cay ra dio ac tively and are not avail able in large amounts. Heavy transuranic elements are difficult and expensive to produce, and their prices go up rapidly with atomic num ber. As of 2008, weap -ons-grade Plutonium cost around $4,000/gram, and Cal i for nium cost $60,000,000/gram. More over, working even with mi cro gram quan ti ties of these chem i cals con tains a sub stan tial health risk due to their ra dio activity and toxicity. How ever, us ing the method of ra dio ac tive in di ca tors as well as ap pro pri ate in stru ments it is pos - si ble to study transuranic ions be hav ior in wa ter so lu tions at sub-microconcentration lev els as low as 10-8 -10-10 mol.l-1. In this pa per the highly suit able electromigration tech nique is dis cussed and applied to examine some hexavalent Plu to nium prop er ties. A set of col lected radioanalytical data, in cluding values of parameters such as ion mobilities, molar volumes, Stocks radii, hydration num bers, diffusion coefficients as well as their temperature dependence in aqueous solutions is presented. Scripta Scientifica Medica 2010;42(1):77-81