Comparison of morphologies of a uranyl peroxide precursor and calcination products

An understanding of the relationships between morphologic signatures of uranium oxide materials and precursor materials used to prepare them would be valuable for determining process history of intercepted materials. Here, three different high purity uranium oxide materials were prepared from a single source of uranyl peroxide hydrate (UO₂(O₂)·xH₂O) to determine variability of texture between the precipitate precursor and calcination products. Scanning electron microscopy images of the materials were characterized using a lexicon of descriptors. Analyses revealed that morphologic textures of calcination products were indeed equivalent to that of the UO₂(O₂)·xH₂O precipitate, revealing a morphologic signature for forensic analyses of process history. (author)