Hydrolysis of Uranium Carbides between 25 and 100°. I. Uranium Monocarbide

High-purity uranium monocarbide, when allowed to react with water at temperatures between 25 and 99 deg , yielded a gelatinous, hydrous, tetravalent uranium oxide and a gas (93 ml (STP) per gram of UC hydrolyzed) consisting of 86 vol% methane, 11 vol% hydrogen, 1.8 vol% ethane, and small quantities of saturated C 3- to C6-hydrocarbons. The gaseous products contained all the carbon originally present in the carbide. Hydrolysis, at 80 deg , of monocarbide specimens containing dispersed uranium metal yielded the expected gaseous products and an additional 2 moles of hydrogen per mole of uranium metal. The rate of hydrolysis was studied briefly.