{"id":1111,"date":"2018-11-28T16:40:43","date_gmt":"2018-11-28T23:40:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/communicatingscience2018w111\/?p=1111"},"modified":"2018-11-28T17:21:59","modified_gmt":"2018-11-29T00:21:59","slug":"a-new-organic-compound-has-potential-in-removing-nuclear-uranium-wastes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/communicatingscience2018w111\/2018\/11\/28\/a-new-organic-compound-has-potential-in-removing-nuclear-uranium-wastes\/","title":{"rendered":"A New Organic Compound has Potential in Removing Nuclear Uranium Wastes"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 On September 20, 2018, Mohammad Chaudhry<\/a>, a Ph. D student at the University of British Columbia and his team of researchers have produced a new chemical compound known as an expanded campestarene. This new compound is a large, cyclic molecular structure that possesses the unique property of binding strongly to uranium ions. This can have real-world applications in the future as a tool to manage nuclear waste since the uranium by-product produced by nuclear reactors is a growing concern. Expanded campestarenes\u2019 ability to strongly bind to uranium ions can be used to specifically remove dangerous, radioactive uranium waste.<\/span><\/p>\n

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The hollow cavity of expanded campestarene in the middle will hold the uranium ion.<\/p><\/div>\n

The Campastarene Creation:<\/b><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 The process for making such a compound is not an easy process. It requires a lot of trial and error, and an extensive knowledge of macrocycle chemistry, a subsection of chemistry. Despite being an expert on this subject, it still took Chaudhry a lengthy time to obtain enough of these molecules to call it a success. According to Chaudhry, \u201cI basically went through the periodic table, and I went through a list of which elements would make sense to work in this type of reaction, and uranium was one I thought would work.\u201d Overall, this process took about eight months.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 After selection of uranium ion, a reflux reaction was used to produce the compounds. A reflux reaction is simply heating a bunch of chemical compounds in order to input energy and make the reaction more likely to happen. \u201cBasically, you mix it and you heat it and then you purify it, and that\u2019s it,\u201d says Mohammad.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 The following video contains the journey that Chaudhry and his colleagues have taken to create this molecule.<\/span><\/p>\n