Uranyl The uranyl ion with the chemical formula has a linear structure with short U–O bonds, indicative of the presence of multiple bonds between uranium and oxygen, with uranium in the oxidation state +6. Four or more ligands may be bound to the u ...

sulfate describes a family of

inorganic compound An inorganic compound is typically a chemical compound that lacks carbon–hydrogen bonds⁠that is, a compound that is not an organic compound. The study of inorganic compounds is a subfield of chemistry known as ''inorganic chemistry''. Inorgan ...

s with the formula UO₂SO₄(H₂O)_n. These salts consist of

sulfate The sulfate or sulphate ion is a polyatomic anion with the empirical formula . Salts, acid derivatives, and peroxides of sulfate are widely used in industry. Sulfates occur widely in everyday life. Sulfates are salts of sulfuric acid and many ...

, the uranyl ion, and water. They are lemon-yellow solids. Uranyl sulfates are intermediates in some extraction methods used for uranium ores. These compounds can also take the form of an anhydrous salt.

Structure

The structure of UO₂(SO₄)(H₂O)_3.5 is illustrative of the uranyl sulfates. The ''trans''-UO₂²⁺ centers are encased in a pentagonal bipyramidal coordination sphere. In the pentagonal plane are five oxygen ligands derived from sulfate and aquo ligands. The compound is a coordination polymer.

Uses

Aside from the large scale use in mining, uranyl sulfate finds some use as a

negative stain In microscopy, negative staining is an established method, often used in diagnostic microscopy, for contrasting a thin specimen with an optically opaque fluid. In this technique, the background is stained, leaving the actual specimen untouched, ...

microscopy Microscopy is the technical field of using microscopes to view subjects too small to be seen with the naked eye (objects that are not within the resolution range of the normal eye). There are three well-known branches of microscopy: optical mic ...

and tracer in

biology Biology is the scientific study of life and living organisms. It is a broad natural science that encompasses a wide range of fields and unifying principles that explain the structure, function, growth, History of life, origin, evolution, and ...

. The

Aqueous Homogeneous Reactor Aqueous homogeneous reactors (AHR) is a two (2) chamber reactor consisting of an interior reactor chamber and an outside cooling and moderating jacket chamber. They are a type of nuclear reactor in which soluble nuclear salts (usually uranium su ...

experiment, constructed in 1951, circulated a fuel composed of 565 grams of

U-235 Uranium-235 ( or U-235) is an isotope of uranium making up about 0.72% of natural uranium. Unlike the predominant isotope uranium-238, it is fissile, i.e., it can sustain a nuclear chain reaction. It is the only fissile isotope that exists in nat ...

enriched to 14.7% in the form of uranyl sulfate. The

acid An acid is a molecule or ion capable of either donating a proton (i.e. Hydron, hydrogen cation, H+), known as a Brønsted–Lowry acid–base theory, Brønsted–Lowry acid, or forming a covalent bond with an electron pair, known as a Lewis ...

process of milling uranium ores involves precipitating uranyl sulfate from the pregnant leaching solution to produce the semi-refined product referred to as

yellowcake Yellowcake (also called urania) is a type of powdered uranium concentrate obtained from leach solutions, in an intermediate step in the processing of uranium ores. It is a step in the processing of uranium after it has been mined but before ...

Related compounds

* the

hydrogensulfate The sulfate or sulphate ion is a polyatomic anion with the empirical formula . Salts, acid derivatives, and peroxides of sulfate are widely used in industry. Sulfates occur widely in everyday life. Sulfates are salts of sulfuric acid and many ...

. * potassium uranyl sulfate, K₂UO₂(SO₄)₂, is a double salt used by

Henri Becquerel Antoine Henri Becquerel ( ; ; 15 December 1852 – 25 August 1908) was a French nuclear physicist who shared the 1903 Nobel Prize in Physics with Marie and Pierre Curie for his discovery of radioactivity. Biography Family and education Becq ...

in his discovery of

radioactivity Radioactive decay (also known as nuclear decay, radioactivity, radioactive disintegration, or nuclear disintegration) is the process by which an unstable atomic nucleus loses energy by radiation. A material containing unstable nuclei is conside ...

References

Uranyl compounds Sulfates Nuclear materials {{Sulfates