Issue 42, 2015

Structural investigation of Na3NpO4 and Na3PuO4 using X-ray diffraction and 237Np Mössbauer spectroscopy

Abstract

α-Na3NpO4 and α-Na3PuO4 exhibit an orthorhombic structure (Z = 8), in space group Fmmm, with lattice parameters a = 13.352(2) Å, b = 9.629(2) Å, and c = 6.673(2) Å for the neptunium compound, and a = 13.302(2) Å, b = 9.634(2) Å, and c = 6.651(2) Å for the plutonium analogue. The corresponding structure has been solved ab initio as no structural analogue could be found in the literature. The pentavalent state of neptunium has moreover been confirmed by 237Np Mössbauer spectroscopy, and the local structural properties inferred from the X-ray Rietveld refinement have been related to the fitted quadrupole coupling constant and asymmetry parameters. The existence of a low temperature metastable m phase of Na3NpO4 and Na3PuO4, of the NaCl type, has also been suggested.

Graphical abstract: Structural investigation of Na3NpO4 and Na3PuO4 using X-ray diffraction and 237Np Mössbauer spectroscopy

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
08 Jūn. 2015
Accepted
23 Aug. 2015
First published
08 Sept. 2015
This article is Open Access
Creative Commons BY license

Dalton Trans., 2015,44, 18370-18377

Structural investigation of Na3NpO4 and Na3PuO4 using X-ray diffraction and 237Np Mössbauer spectroscopy

A. L. Smith, P. E. Raison, A. Hen, D. Bykov, E. Colineau, J.-P. Sanchez, R. J. M. Konings and A. K. Cheetham, Dalton Trans., 2015, 44, 18370 DOI: 10.1039/C5DT02168E

This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported Licence. You can use material from this article in other publications without requesting further permissions from the RSC, provided that the correct acknowledgement is given.

Read more about how to correctly acknowledge RSC content.

Social activity

Spotlight

Advertisements