Electrochemical, computational and spectroscopic investigation on local environment of plutonium in ionic liquid and aqueous medium: a comparative study

Abstract

Abstract With an aim to understand the nature of species, cyclic voltammetry (CV) of Pu(IV) in dilute HBr and in a room temperature ionic liquid (RTIL), 1-octyl-3-methylimidazolium bromide (C8mimBr) was carried out. Shifts of cathodic and anodic peak potentials of Pu(IV) cyclic voltammograms were observed towards negative potentials in the extended electrochemical window for ionic liquid medium compared to 2 M HBr. The diffusion coefficient of the most likely species of Pu(IV) in aqueous medium was found to be greater than that of the corresponding species in ionic liquid while the activation energy showed reverse trend. The Pu(IV)/Pu(III) redox reaction was found to be exothermic in aqueous medium while it was endothermic in C8mimBr. The redox reaction was found to be quasi reversible for both the media while the extent of irreversibility was more in ionic liquid. UV-Vis spectroscopy of Pu in these media showed significant differences in the peak positions and their relative intensities, indicating the possible differences in the interactions of Pu(IV) with the solvent molecules resulting in speciation differences. A new prominent peak was observed in RTIL which could be for a new species of Pu(IV). Computational studies were also carried out to understand the solvation of Pu and the possibility of thermodynamic conversion from Pu(IV) to Pu(III).