Uranyl Peroxide Cage Cluster Solubility in Water and the Role of the Electrical Double Layer.

Uranium concentrations as high as 2.94 × 10 parts per million (1.82 mol of U/1 kg of HO) occur in water containing nanoscale uranyl cage clusters.

Cation-Dependent Hierarchical Assembly of U60 Nanoclusters into Macro-Ion Assemblies Imaged via Cryogenic Transmission Electron Microscopy.

Self-assembly of ([UO2(O2)OH]60)(60-) (U60), an actinide polyoxometalate with fullerene topology, can be induced by the addition of mono- and divalent cations to aqueous U60 solutions. Dynamic light scattering and small-angle X-ray scattering lend important insights into assembly in this system, but direct imaging of U60 and its assemblies via transmission electron microscopy (TEM) has remained an elusive goal. In this work, we used cryogenic TEM to image U60 and secondary and tertiary assemblies of U60 to characterize the size, morphology, and rate of formation of the secondary and tertiary structures.

Hybrid uranyl-carboxyphosphonate cage clusters.

Two new hybrid uranyl-carboxyphosphonate cage clusters built from uranyl peroxide units were crystallized from aqueous solution under ambient conditions in approximately two months. The clusters are built from uranyl hexagonal bipyramids and are connected by employing a secondary metal linker, the 2-carboxyphenylphosphonate ligand. The structure of cluster A is composed of a ten-membered uranyl polyhedral belt that is capped on either end of an elongated cage by five-membered rings of uranyl polyhedra.