Fitting a square peg in a round hole—the surprising structure of uranium bound in hematite
Tuesday, August 14, 2018 - 08:52
in Physics & Chemistry
One promising approach to stabilize uranium contamination in soils is to envelop the radioactive uranium into iron-bearing minerals like hematite. But how well does uranium bind with hematite and for how long? Scientists have disagreed on the chemical structure of uranium bound in hematite, making long-term prediction difficult. By melding precise experimental characterization with molecular dynamics modeling, an international research team has discovered the answer. And it's not what anyone expected.