Uranium has largely been relegated to nuclear energy and weapons development, but researchers from the University of Manchester think it could do so much more. The scientists discovered that it’s capable of new unprecedented reactions.
“What makes uranium unique is it sits at a crossroads in the periodic table, not a positional one but one in terms of character; it can behave like the lanthanides sometimes, the 14 element row above the actinides, or sometimes it reacts just like transition metals,” says Steve Liddle.
“We have literally hundreds of tons of depleted uranium sat in storage around the world as a ‘waste’ by-product of uranium enrichment, so it’d be great to do something with it.”
Come and find out more about uranium and the science that is done with it.
Professor Steve Liddle is head of Inorganic Chemistry and co-Director of the Centre for Radiochemistry Research at The University of Manchester. Prof Liddle has launched a project called CAMERA – Chemistry at Manchester Explains Research Advances – which is a series of films on YouTube looking at the groundbreaking science that Manchester researchers are tackling. He was also one of the Periodic Videos team awarded the IChemE Petronas award for excellence in education and training in 2008 for a series of videos from the University of Nottingham presented on YouTube, which feature educational vignettes on the periodic table.
Talk begins at 6.30pm prompt at the Vale Inn, Adlington Road, Bollington
All welcome, no charge. Arrive early to be sure of a seat.
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