# RGO-Pt as an effective catalyst for U(IV) generation under hydrogen

## TL;DR

This paper presents a new catalyst, RGO-Pt, that effectively converts uranium from U(VI) to U(IV) under hydrogen, which is important for nuclear fuel reprocessing.

## Contribution

The study introduces RGO-supported Pt catalysts with varying ratios for U(IV) generation, showing their superior performance over existing models.

## Key findings

- RGO-Pt catalysts outperformed the SiO2-Pt model in U(VI) to U(IV) reduction.
- Pt nanoclusters with larger sizes were more effective for catalysis than the smallest ones.
- Pt acts both as a dispersing agent and an active surface for the reduction reaction.

## Abstract

Effective generation of U(IV) from U(VI) is a key step to achieve the partitioning of Pu from U in a spent nuclear fuel reprocessing plant. Reduction under a hydrogen atmosphere is one of the methods for the generation of U(IV) from U(VI) in the presence of a catalyst. Towards this, we have developed novel reduced graphene oxide (RGO)-supported Pt catalysts with varying RGO to Pt ratios. All these catalysts were tested for their catalytic performance for U(VI) to U(IV) reduction under hydrogen, and the performance was compared with the literature-reported SiO2-Pt model catalyst. During the catalytic study, the dual role of Pt was confirmed. It helps the dispersion of materials in the aqueous reaction medium and provides the active surface for the U(VI) reduction reaction using hydrogen. In this regard, Pt nanoclusters with larger sizes were identified for effective catalysis instead of the smallest size.

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1038/s41598-025-08442-z.