X-ray powder diffraction investigations of the composition of uranium-containing precipitates

Uranium-containing precipitates which were formed from solutions of uranyl sulfate containing various amounts of ammonium bicarbonate in the pH 2-7 range and which imitate the composition of the uranyl complexes formed in the phase of an ion exchanger at corresponding values of the sorption pH have been investigated by the methods of x-ray powder diffraction analysis, thermal analysis, and chemical analysis. It has been established that uranyl sulfates, basic sulfates, and carbonates of varying composition form as the pH is increased in accordance with the form in which uranium exists in the liquid phase. The formation of polynuclear uranyl complexes in the pH 2-4 range has been postulated