Coprecipitation of actinides with the peroxides of other actinides

Abstract

The actinide elements Th, U, Np and Pu all have peroxides and arguments have been given2,3,4, that these compounds form two groups, one consisting of the peroxides of thorium and plutonium, which peroxides are very similar in constitution and a second group, the peroxides of uranium and neptunium, also very similar to each other but different from the first group. We have tried to obtain information concerning this difference between the two groups by means of a series of coprecipitation reactions. The idea was, that elements present in tracer quantities would be likely to be carried very efficiently by a peroxide precipitate of similar constitution and less efficiently by a precipitate of different constitution.