On the Oxidation of Uraninite From Natural Reactor Cores

1999 ◽  
Vol 556 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daqing Cui ◽  
Trygve Eriksen ◽  
Ulla-Britt Eklund

AbstractNatural nuclear reactors provide unique evidence in helping to understand the processes that might occur over long timescales in radioactive waste disposal sites. In the presented work, the extent and kinetics of oxidation of core material from the Oklo-Bangombé natural reactors are investigated. The X-ray powder diffraction analysis shows that the uraninites core samples from the Bangombé Reactor and Oklo Reactor 2. and Oklo Reactor 13 have the same unit-cell parameters as synthetic UO2.25. A significant amount of fourmarierite, Pb(UO2)4O3(OH)4 4H2O, was identified in the core samples from two shallow reactors Bangombé and Oklo 2, but not in the deeper reactor Oklo 13. The results of U(IV)/U(IV) measurements indicate that the extent of oxidative weathering of shallow reactors (Bangombé and Oklo 2) is greater than for the deeper reactor Oklo 13. Evaporable organic compounds found in the uraninite inclusion containing “bitumen” at the edge of Okelobondo Reactor (400 °C) and in the black shale immediately above the Bangombé Reactor (260 °C) may work as a reducing buffer or/and a hydrophobic water shield to depress the oxidative dissolution of the uraninite cores.

2010 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 891-896
Author(s):  
Manel Halouani ◽  
M. Dammak ◽  
N. Audebrand ◽  
L. Ktari

One nickel 1,4-cyclohexanedicarboxylate coordination polymers, Ni2 [(O10C6H4)(COO)2].2H2O  (I), was hydrothermally synthesized from an aqueous solution of Ni (NO3)2.6H2O, (1,4-CDC) (1,4-CDC = 1,4-cyclohexanedicarboxylic acid) and tetramethylammonium nitrate. Compound (I) crystallizes in the monoclinic system with the C2/m space group. The unit cell parameters are a = 20.1160 (16) Å, b = 9.9387 (10) Å, c = 6.3672 (6) Å, β = 97.007 (3) (°), V= 1263.5 (2) (Å3) and Dx= 1.751g/cm3. The refinement converged into R= 0.036 and RW = 0.092. The structure, determined by single crystal X-ray diffraction, consists of two nickel atoms Ni (1) and Ni (2). Lots of ways of which is surrounded by six oxygen atoms, a carboxyl group and two water molecules.


Author(s):  
Natalia Pakharukova ◽  
Minna Tuittila ◽  
Sari Paavilainen ◽  
Anton Zavialov

The attachment of many Gram-negative pathogens to biotic and abiotic surfaces is mediated by fimbrial adhesins, which are assembledviathe classical, alternative and archaic chaperone–usher (CU) pathways. The archaic CU fimbrial adhesins have the widest phylogenetic distribution, yet very little is known about their structure and mechanism of assembly. To elucidate the biogenesis of archaic CU systems, structural analysis of the Csu fimbriae, which are used byAcinetobacter baumanniito form stable biofilms and cause nosocomial infection, was focused on. The major fimbriae subunit CsuA/B complexed with the CsuC chaperone was purified from the periplasm ofEscherichia colicells co-expressing CsuA/B and CsuC, and the complex was crystallized in PEG 3350 solution using the hanging-drop vapour-diffusion method. Selenomethionine-labelled CsuC–CsuA/B complex was purified and crystallized under the same conditions. The crystals diffracted to 2.40 Å resolution and belonged to the hexagonal space groupP6422, with unit-cell parametersa=b= 94.71,c = 187.05 Å, α = β = 90, γ = 120°. Initial phases were derived from a single anomalous diffraction (SAD) experiment using the selenomethionine derivative.


2020 ◽  
Vol 235 (4-5) ◽  
pp. 167-172
Author(s):  
Anastasiia P. Topnikova ◽  
Elena L. Belokoneva ◽  
Olga V. Dimitrova ◽  
Anatoly S. Volkov ◽  
Leokadiya V. Zorina

AbstractA new silicate-germanate K2Y[(Si3Ge)O10(OH)] was synthesized hydrothermally in a system Y2O3:GeO2:SiO2 = 1:1:2 (T = 280 °C; P = 90–100 atm.); K2CO3 was added to the solution as a mineralizer. Single-crystal X-ray diffraction experiment was carried out at low temperature (150 K). The unit cell parameters are a = 10.4975(4), b = 6.9567(2), c = 15.4001(6) Å, β = 104.894(4)°; V = 1086.86(7) Å3; space group is P 21/c. A novel complex anion is presented by corrugated (Si,Ge) tetrahedral layers connected by couples of YO6 octahedra into the mixed microporous framework with the channels along b and a axes, the maximal size of cross-section is ~5.6 Å. This structure has similarity with the two minerals: ring silicate gerenite (Ca,Na)2(Y,REE)3Si6O18 · 2H2O and chain silicate chkalovite Na2BeSi2O6. Six-member rings with 1̅ symmetry as in gerenite are distinguished in the new layer. They are mutually perpendicular to each other and connected by additional tetrahedra. Straight crossing chains in chkalovite change to zigzag four-link chains in the new silicate-germanate layer.


2021 ◽  
pp. 1-6
Author(s):  
Mariana M. V. M. Souza ◽  
Alex Maza ◽  
Pablo V. Tuza

In the present work, LaNi0.5Ti0.45Co0.05O3, LaNi0.45Co0.05Ti0.5O3, and LaNi0.5Ti0.5O3 perovskites were synthesized by the modified Pechini method. These materials were characterized using X-ray fluorescence, scanning electron microscopy, and powder X-ray diffraction coupled to the Rietveld method. The crystal structure of these materials is orthorhombic, with space group Pbnm (No 62). The unit-cell parameters are a = 5.535(5) Å, b = 5.527(3) Å, c = 7.819(7) Å, V = 239.2(3) Å3, for the LaNi0.5Ti0.45Co0.05O3, a = 5.538(6) Å, b = 5.528(4) Å, c = 7.825(10) Å, V = 239.5(4) Å3, for the LaNi0.45Co0.05Ti0.5O3, and a = 5.540(2) Å, b = 5.5334(15) Å, c = 7.834(3) Å, V = 240.2(1) Å3, for the LaNi0.5Ti0.5O3.


Minerals ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (11) ◽  
pp. 1028 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Mashrur Zaman ◽  
Sytle M. Antao

This study investigates the crystal chemistry of monazite (APO4, where A = Lanthanides = Ln, as well as Y, Th, U, Ca, and Pb) based on four samples from different localities using single-crystal X-ray diffraction and electron-probe microanalysis. The crystal structure of all four samples are well refined, as indicated by their refinement statistics. Relatively large unit-cell parameters (a = 6.7640(5), b = 6.9850(4), c = 6.4500(3) Å, β = 103.584(2)°, and V = 296.22(3) Å3) are obtained for a detrital monazite-Ce from Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh. Sm-rich monazite from Gunnison County, Colorado, USA, has smaller unit-cell parameters (a = 6.7010(4), b = 6.9080(4), c = 6.4300(4) Å, β = 103.817(3)°, and V = 289.04(3) Å3). The a, b, and c unit-cell parameters vary linearly with the unit-cell volume, V. The change in the a parameter is large (0.2 Å) and is related to the type of cations occupying the A site. The average <A-O> distances vary linearly with V, whereas the average <P-O> distances are nearly constant because the PO4 group is a rigid tetrahedron.


Author(s):  
Zhong Cheng ◽  
Yao Li ◽  
Chun Sui ◽  
Xiaobo Sun ◽  
Yong Xie

Human hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase-like protein 2 (HSDL2) is a member of the short-chain dehydrogenase/reductase (SDR) subfamily of oxidoreductases and contains an N-terminal catalytic domain and a C-termianl sterol carrier protein type 2 (SCP-2) domain. In this study, the C-terminal SCP-2 domain of human HSDL2, including residues Lys318–Arg416, was produced inEscherichia coli, purified and crystallized. X-ray diffraction data were collected to 2.10 Å resolution. The crystal belonged to the trigonal space groupP3121 (orP3221), with unit-cell parametersa=b= 70.4,c= 60.6 Å, α = β = 90, γ = 120°. Two protein molecules are present in the asymmetric unit, resulting in a Matthews coefficient of 2.16 Å3 Da−1and an approximate solvent content of 43%.


2017 ◽  
Vol 81 (4) ◽  
pp. 917-922
Author(s):  
Peter Elliott

AbstractThe crystal structure of the copper aluminium phosphate mineral sieleckiite, Cu3Al4(PO4)2 (OH)12·2H2O, from the Mt Oxide copper mine, Queensland, Australia was solved from single-crystal X-ray diffraction data utilizing synchrotron radiation. Sieleckiite has monoclinic rather than triclinic symmetry as previously reported and is space group C2/m with unit-cell parameters a = 11.711(2), b = 6.9233(14), c = 9.828(2) Å, β = 92.88(3)°, V = 795.8(3) Å3and Z = 2. The crystal structure, which has been refined to R1 = 0.0456 on the basis of 1186 unique reflections with Fo > 4σF, is a framework of corner-, edge- and face- sharing Cu and Al octahedra and PO4 tetrahedra.


2012 ◽  
Vol 76 (4) ◽  
pp. 963-973 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. O. Lepore ◽  
T. Boffa Ballaran ◽  
F. Nestola ◽  
L. Bindi ◽  
D. Pasqual ◽  
...  

AbstractAmbient temperature X-ray diffraction data were collected at different pressures from two crystals of β-As4S4, which were made by heating realgar under vacuum at 295ºC for 24 h. These data were used to calculate the unit-cell parameters at pressures up to 6.86 GPa. Above 2.86 GPa, it was only possible to make an approximate measurement of the unit-cell parameters. As expected for a crystal structure that contains molecular units held together by weak van der Waals interactions, β-As4S4 has an exceptionally high compressibility. The compressibility data were fitted to a third-order Birch–Murnaghan equation of state with a resulting volume V0 = 808.2(2) Å3, bulk modulus K0 = 10.9(2) GPa and K' = 8.9(3). These values are extremely close to those reported for the low-temperature polymorph of As4S4, realgar, which contains the same As4S4 cage-molecule. Structural analysis showed that the unit-cell contraction is due mainly to the reduction in intermolecular distances, which causes a substantial reduction in the unit-cell volume (∼21% at 6.86 GPa). The cage-like As4S4 molecules are only slightly affected. No phase transitions occur in the pressure range investigated.Micro-Raman spectra, collected across the entire pressure range, show that the peaks associated with As–As stretching have the greatest pressure dependence; the S–As–S bending frequency and the As–S stretching have a much weaker dependence or no variation at all as the pressure increases; this is in excellent agreement with the structural data.


1998 ◽  
Vol 54 (1) ◽  
pp. 111-113 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yu Luo ◽  
Min-yuan Chou ◽  
Su-chen Li ◽  
Yu-teh Li ◽  
Ming Luo

Functional monomeric 83 kDa sialidase L, a NeuAcα2→3Gal-specific sialidase from Macrobdella leech, was expressed in Escherichia coli and readily crystallized by a macroseeding technique. The crystal belongs to space group P1 with unit-cell parameters a = 46.4, b = 69.3, c = 72.5 Å, α = 113.5, β = 95.4 and γ = 107.3°. There is one molecule per unit cell, giving a Vm = 2.4 Å3 Da−1 and a solvent content of 40%. Native and mercury-derivative data sets were collected to 2.0 Å resolution. Threading and molecular-replacement calculations confirmed the existence of a bacterial sialidase-like domain.


2010 ◽  
Vol 74 (1) ◽  
pp. 147-157 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Garavelli ◽  
T. Balić-Žunić ◽  
D. Mitolo ◽  
P. Acquafredda ◽  
E. Leonardsen ◽  
...  

AbstractHeklaite, with the ideal formula KNaSiF6, was found among fumarolic encrustations collected in 1992 on the Hekla volcano, Iceland. Heklaite forms a fine-grained mass of micron- to sub-micron-sized crystals intimately associated with malladrite, hieratite and ralstonite. The mineral is colourless, transparent, non-fluorescent, has a vitreous lustre and a white streak. The calculated density is 2.69 g cm–3. An SEM-EDS quantitative chemical analysis shows the following range of concentrations (wt.%): Na 11.61–12.74 (average 11.98), K 17.02–18.97 (average 18.29), Si 13.48 –14.17 (average 13.91), F 54.88–56.19 (average 55.66). The empirical chemical formula, calculated on the basis of 9 a.p.f.u., is Na1.07K0.96Si1.01F5.97. X-ray powder diffraction indicates that heklaite is orthorhombic, space group Pnma, with the following unit-cell parameters: a = 9.3387(7) Å, b = 5.5032(4) Å, c = 9.7957(8) Å , V = 503.43(7) Å3, Z = 4. The eight strongest reflections in the powder diffraction pattern [d in Å (I/I0) (hkl)] are: 4.33 (53) (102); 4.26 (56) (111); 3.40 (49) (112); 3.37 (47) (202); 3.34 (100) (211); 2.251 (27) (303); 2.050 (52) (123); 2.016 (29) (321). On the basis of chemical analyses and X-ray data, heklaite corresponds to the synthetic compound KNaSiF6. The name is for the type locality, the Hekla volcano, Iceland.


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