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Pentavalent uranium compounds are key components of uranium‘s redox chemistry and play important roles in environmental transport. Despite this, well‐characterized U(V) compounds are scarce primarily because of their instability with respect to disproportionation to U(IV) and U(VI). In this work, we provide an alternate route to incorporation of U(V) into a crystalline lattice where different oxidation states of uranium can be stabilized through the incorporation of secondary cations with different sizes and charges. We show that iriginite‐based crystalline layers allow for systematically replacing U(VI) with U(V) through aliovalent substitution of 2+ alkaline‐earth or 3+ rare‐earth cations as dopant ions under high‐temperature conditions, specifically Ca(UVIO2)W4O14 and Ln(UVO2)W4O14 (Ln=Nd, Sm, Eu, Gd, Yb). Evidence for the existence of U(V) and U(VI) is supported by single‐crystal X‐ray diffraction, high energy resolution X‐ray absorption near edge structure, X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and optical absorption spectroscopy. In contrast with other reported U(V) materials, the U(V) single crystals obtained using this route are relatively large (several centimeters) and easily reproducible, and thus provide a substantial improvement in the facile synthesis and stabilization of U(V). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

90Sr, as a typical artificial radionuclide, poses a serious threat to human health and the ecological environment. The selective removal of this radionuclide from industrial nuclear waste is crucial for our environment. Here we report a novel potassium fluoroaluminate, K2[(AlF5)H2O], which was synthesized by a simple low‐temperature one‐step method. It adopts a 1D AlF6‐chain structure, which consists of exchangeable potassium ions in between the infinite chains of octahedral Al centers. As a remarkable inorganic ionic exchanger, K2[(AlF5)H2O] has a high chemical stability (resistance of pH=~3‐12) and thermal stability (≥~300 °C). It possesses an excellent adsorption selectivity (Kd=~6.1×104 mL ⋅ g−1) and a maximum adsorption capacity of qm=~120.32 mg ⋅ g−1 for Sr2+. Importantly, it still keep a very good selectivity for Sr2+ ions even in the presence of competing Na+, Mg2+ and Ca2+ aqueous solutions. K2[(AlF5)H2O] is the first example of fluoroaluminate ionic exchange materials that can capture Sr2+. This result opens up a new way to design and synthesize inorganic ionic exchangers for the selective removal of Sr2+ ions from radioactive waste water. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Three new sodium thorium arsenates, Na5Th4(AsO4)7 (1), Na5Th(AsO4)3 (2), and Na4Th(As2O7)2 (3) were synthesized via a high temperature route and their structures and optical properties were studied. Compound 1 adopts a three‐dimensional structure that consists of tetrameric fundamental building blocks (FBBs) [Th4(AsO4)7]5–, which are constructed by ThO8 and ThO9 polyhedra. The structures of 2 and 3 are based on open frameworks with channels running along the a or c axes, respectively, which are occupied by Na cations. Structural relations between the structures of 2 and 3 have been discussed regarding their composition. In contrast to the other two compounds, the arsenate anions in the structure of 2 play role of bridging ligands and do not connect more than two Th atoms. Owing to this, the underlying net of this compound contains only Th nodes has a lon topology. The Raman spectra of 1 and 2 contain similar peaks due to As–O vibrations of AsO4 groups, while the Raman spectrum of 3 differs significantly owing to the presence of As–O–As bridging group in As2O74– anions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A systematic investigation of uranyl borates under different synthetic conditions resulted in five new 2D compounds, namely, (H3O)[(UO2)(BO3)], Li[(UO2)(BO3)]·(H2O), α‐K4[(UO2)5(BO3)2O4], β‐K4[(UO2)5(BO3)2O4] and K2.5[(UO2)5(BO3)2O2.5(OH)1.5]·(H2O)2.5. (H3O)[(UO2)(BO3)] and Li[(UO2)(BO3)]·(H2O) were obtained from hydrothermal reactions at 220 °C using the same mineralizer. Both materials possess the uranophane sheet topology with different symmetry of the unit cells. In the structure of (H3O)[(UO2)(BO3)] and Li[(UO2)(BO3)]·(H2O), UO7 pentagonal bipyramids share edges and vertexes with four BO3 planar triangles. α‐K4[(UO2)5(BO3)2O4] and β‐K4[(UO2)5(BO3)2O4] are polytypes. α‐K4[(UO2)5(BO3)2O4] was synthesized from a high‐temperature solid‐state reaction under ambient pressure; whereas β‐K4[(UO2)5(BO3)2O4] was obtained from a high‐temperature/high‐pressure (HT/HP) reaction. Both structures have an identical anion topology, but β‐K4[(UO2)5(BO3)2O4] crystallizes in space group with higher symmetry. In K2.5[(UO2)5(BO3)2O2.5(OH)1.5]·(H2O)2.5, which was obtained from a hydrothermal reaction, UO7 polyhedra share vertexes and edges with two independent BO3 triangles, forming the most complex uranyl borate layers among all five compounds. The different synthetic routes, novel topologies, thermal behavior and Raman spectra are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]