2025/07/25 by Tyler L. Spano, Travis A. Olds, Addison Malone +8 · 1 voice
Chemistry · Environmental Science · Materials Science · #Nuclear Materials and Properties #Radioactive contamination and transfer #Radioactive element chemistry and processing
paper · doi:10.2138/am-2025-9759
openalex publication_date 2025/07/25 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
Abstract Ianthinite ([U24+(UO2)4O6(OH)4(H2O)4]·5H2O) is an exotic mineral that possesses U in both tetravalent and hexavalent oxidation states and is structurally related to the U3O8 polymorphs, which are commonly encountered technogenic materials in the nuclear fuel cycle. Despite the similarities between U3O8 and ianthinite, and the importance of ianthinite in U paragenesis, no Raman spectra have been reported for this mineral. To gain a more complete understanding of how structural attributes of ianthinite give rise to observable spectroscopic features and how these may relate to important materials in the nuclear fuel cycle, we provide, for the first time, Raman spectra of ianthinite. Ianthinite readily oxidizes at ambient conditions, complicating analysis of phase-pure material. Several analytical methods are employed herein to decouple the Raman features of ianthinite from its alteration product(s). First, a simple difference spectrum is presented, then results of Raman spectroscopic mapping are employed, and finally, we use a novel processing and analysis method. Each analysis method provides different insight into structural features that are unique to ianthinite, in particular, features that are attributable to U(IV) in distorted octahedral coordination in both ianthinite and U3O8 phases.