Valence distribution of radiophosphorus in potassium chloride single crystals. Part 2.—Effect of thermal annealing

Abstract

Results are presented of thermal annealing experiments on ³²P, produced by the reaction ³⁵Cl(n,α)³²P, in pure single crystals of KCl. No reaction occurred until temperatures of about 150°C. Above this temperature, annealing caused only oxidation, and eventually all the ³²P appeared in the phosphate fraction on dissolution. Several treatments of the data have been made in an attempt to find activation energies for the oxidation processes: these are compared with values obtained by other workers. A mechanism is proposed for the oxidations, involving cation diffusion as the rate-controlling process.