A very rare tetravalent uranium germanate has been synthesized under hydrothermal conditions at 585 degrees C and 160 MPa. Its structure contains layers of single-ring Ge(3)O(9)(6-) germanate anions that are connected by UO(6) octahedra and dimers of edge-sharing GeO(5) trigonal bipyramids to form a three-dimensional framework with intersecting 6- and 7-ring channels. UV visible, photoluminescence, and U 4f X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy were used to confirm the valence state of uranium.
