Effects of pH on Corrosion Behavior of Pure Iron and Reductive Deposition of U⁶⁺ in Simulated Groundwater Containing U⁶⁺

Electrochemical test, immersion corrosion test, inductively coupled plasma emission spectrometer (ICP-OES), scanning electron microscopy / energy dispersive spectroscopy (SEM/EDS) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) were used to study the effect of pH on the corrosion behavior of pure iron in simulated groundwater containing U⁶⁺ and reductive deposition of U⁶⁺. The results show that with the increase of pH, the corrosion rate of pure iron gradually slowed down and the corrosion degree gradually decreased. In the first 72 h, the reductive deposition rate of U⁶⁺ gradually slowed down with the increase of pH, and it got the fastest value in the solution with pH 5.2, and the slowest value in the solution with pH 9.2. The main corrosion products on pure iron surface were Fe₂O₃, Fe₃O₄, Fe(OH)₃, FeOOH and UO₂.