Behavior of platinum to the catalyzing decomposition of hydrogen peroxide

During process of precipitating plutonium by hydrogen peroxide, micro-plutonium was recovered by anion exchange resin from the precipitation solution. Hydrogen peroxide must by decomposed before the recovery of plutonium. The decomposition of hydrogen peroxide catalysed by Pt was studied in this paper. The results show that hydrogen peroxide can be well decomposed at less than 50 degree C if Pt is used as catalyst. The decomposition rate is in direct ratio to the surface area of Pt and can be controlled by the temperature. The plutonium oxidation state does not change in this process. This method shows many benefits over heating decomposition such as unchanging of plutonium oxidation state and controllable decomposition rate. (authors)