Investigations of Actinide Metals and Compounds under Pressure Provide Important Insights into Bonding and Chemistry

2003 ◽  
Vol 802 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. G. Haire ◽  
S. Heathman ◽  
T. Le Bihan ◽  
A. Lindbaum ◽  
M. Iridi

ABSTRACTOne effect of pressure on elements and compounds is to decease their interatomic distances, which can bring about dramatic perturbations in their electronic nature and bonding, which can be reflected in changes in physical and/or chemical properties. One important issue in the actinide series of elements is the effect of pressure on the 5f-electrons. We have probed changes in electronic behavior with pressure by monitoring structure by X-ray diffraction, and have studied several actinide metals and compounds from thorium through einsteinium. These studies have employed angle dispersive diffraction using synchrotron radiation, and energy dispersive techniques via conventional X-ray sources. The 5f-electrons of actinide metals and their alloys are often affected significantly by pressure, while with compounds, the structural changes are often not linked to the involvement of 5 f-electron. We shall present some of our more recent findings from studies of selected actinide metals, alloys and compounds under pressure. A discussion of the results in terms of the changes in electronic configurations and bonding with regard to the element's position in the series is also addressed.

Crystals ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 129
Author(s):  
Liana Vella-Zarb ◽  
Ulrich Baisch

There is much interest and focus on solid forms of famciclovir. However, in spite of the abundance of reported differences in oral bioavailability, compressibility, and other physical–chemical properties of the various crystal forms of this drug, very little precise structural analysis is available in the literature to date. The form used in the commercial formulation is the anhydrous form I. Patents and patent applications report three different anhydrous crystalline forms on the basis of unindexed powder diffraction patterns. Single-crystal and variable-temperature X-ray diffraction experiments using the commercially available anhydrous form of famciclovir were carried out and led not only to the crystal structure determination of the anhydrous form I, but also to discovery of a new crystal form of anhydrous famciclovir from powder data.


1987 ◽  
Vol 113 ◽  
Author(s):  
Scott Schlorholtz ◽  
Ken Bergeson ◽  
Turgut Demirel

ABSTRACTThe physical and chemical properties of fly ash produced at Ottumwa Generating Station have been monitored since April, 1985. The fly ash is produced from burning a low sulfur, sub-bituminous coal obtained from the Powder River Basin near Gillette, Wyoming. One-hundred and sixty samples of fly ash were obtained during the two year period. All of the samples were subjected to physical testing as specified by ASTM C 311. About one-hundred of the samples were also subjected to a series of tests designed to monitor the self-cementing properties of the fly ash. Many of the fly ash samples were subjected to x-ray diffraction and fluorescence analysis to define the mineralogical and chemical composition of the bulk fly ash as a function of sampling date. Hydration products in selected hardened fly ash pastes, were studied by x-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy. The studies indicated that power plant operating conditions influenced the compressive strength of the fly ash paste specimens. Mineralogical and morphological studies of the fly ash pastes indicated that stratlingite formation occurred in the highstrength specimens, while ettringite was the major hydration product evident in the low-strength specimens.


2013 ◽  
Vol 832 ◽  
pp. 589-595 ◽  
Author(s):  
N.A. Edama ◽  
A. Sulaiman ◽  
K.H. Ku Hamid ◽  
M.N. Muhd Rodhi ◽  
Mohibah Musa ◽  
...  

This study analyzed the effects of sulphuric acid (H2SO4) treatment on pysico-chemical properties and morphological changes of clay obtained from Sg. Sayong, Perak. The clay was ground and sieved to <150μm and treated with different concentrations of H2SO4. The treatment was completed by refluxing the clay with different concentration of H2SO4 (1M, 5M and 10M ) at 100 °C for 4 hours and followed by calcination at 500 °C for 1 hour. The physic-chemical properties and morphological changes of the untreated and treated clay were compared using Surface Area Analyser, X-Ray Diffraction (XRD), Field Emission Scanning Electron Micrograph (FESEM), X-Ray Diffraction (XRD) and Fourier Transformed Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR). The results showed that acid treatment of 5M increased the surface area from 25 m2/g to 75 m2/g and the pore volume increased from 0.1518 cc/g to 0.3546 cc/g. The nanopore size of the clay decreased from 24.8 nm to 19.4 nm after treated with acid. This can be explained due to the elimination of the exchangeable cations and generation of microporosity. The results of XRF showed SiO2 increased from 58.34% to 74.52% and Al2O3 reduced from 34.6% to 18.31%. The mineral oxides such as Fe2O3, MgO, CaO, K2O and TiO2 also reduced. This concluded that H2SO4 treatment has led to significant removal of octahedral Al3+, Fe3+ cations and other impurities. In conclusion, this study showed the physico-chemical properties and morphology of Sayong clay were improved once treated with H2SO4 and therefore suggests better supporting material for enzyme immobilization.


2014 ◽  
Vol 70 (a1) ◽  
pp. C94-C94
Author(s):  
Pawel Kuczera ◽  
Walter Steurer

The structure of d(ecagonal)-Al-Cu-Rh has been studied as a function of temperature by in-situ single-crystal X-ray diffraction in order to contribute to the discussion on energy or entropy stabilization of quasicrystals (QC) [1]. The experiments were performed at 293 K, 1223 K, 1153 K, 1083 K, and 1013 K. A common subset of 1460 unique reflections was used for the comparative structure refinements at each temperature. The results obtained for the HT structure refinements of d-Al-Cu-Rh QC seem to contradict a pure phasonic-entropy-based stabilization mechanism [2] for this QC. The trends observed for the ln func(I(T1 )/I(T2 )) vs.|k⊥ |^2 plots indicate that the best on-average quasiperiodic order exists between 1083 K and 1153 K, however, what that actually means is unclear. It could indicate towards a small phasonic contribution to entropy, but such contribution is not seen in the structure refinements. A rough estimation of the hypothetic phason instability temperature shows that it would be kinetically inaccessible and thus the phase transition to a 12 Å low T structure (at ~800 K) is most likely not phason-driven. Except for the obvious increase in the amplitude of the thermal motion, no other significant structural changes, in particular no sources of additional phason-related configurational entropy, were found. All structures are refined to very similar R-values, which proves that the quality of the refinement at each temperature is the same. This suggests, that concerning the stability factors, some QCs could be similar to other HT complex intermetallic phases. The experimental results clearly show that at least the ~4 Å structure of d-Al-Cu-Rh is a HT phase therefore entropy plays an important role in its stabilisation mechanism lowering the free energy. However, the main source of this entropy is probably not related to phason flips, but rather to lattice vibrations, occupational disorder unrelated to phason flips like split positions along the periodic axis.


2005 ◽  
Vol 38 (5) ◽  
pp. 749-756 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ulrich Gesenhues

The polygonization of 200 nm rutile crystals during dry ball-milling at 10gwas monitored in detail by means of transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD). The TEM results showed how to modify the Williamson–Hall method for a successful evaluation of crystal size and microstrain from XRD profiles. Macrostrain development was determined from the minute shift of the most intense reflection. In addition, changes in pycnometrical density were monitored. Accordingly, the primary crystal is disintegrated during milling into a mosaic of 12–35 nm pieces where the grain boundaries induce up to 1.2% microstrain in a lower layer of 6 nm thickness. Macrostrain in the interior of the crystals rises to 0.03%. The pycnometrical density, reflecting the packing density of atoms in the grain boundary, decreases steadily by 1.1%. The results bear relevance to our understanding of plastic flow and the mechanism of phase transitions of metal oxides during high-energy milling.


Metals ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (5) ◽  
pp. 800
Author(s):  
Vladimír Girman ◽  
Maksym Lisnichuk ◽  
Daria Yudina ◽  
Miloš Matvija ◽  
Pavol Sovák ◽  
...  

In the present study, the effect of wet mechanical alloying (MA) on the glass-forming ability (GFA) of Co43Fe20X5.5B31.5 (X = Ta, W) alloys was studied. The structural evolution during MA was investigated using high-energy X-ray diffraction, X-ray absorption spectroscopy, high-resolution transmission electron microscopy and magnetic measurements. Pair distribution function and extended X-ray absorption fine structure spectroscopy were used to characterize local atomic structure at various stages of MA. Besides structural changes, the magnetic properties of both compositions were investigated employing a vibrating sample magnetometer and thermomagnetic measurements. It was shown that using hexane as a process control agent during wet MA resulted in the formation of fully amorphous Co-Fe-Ta-B powder material at a shorter milling time (100 h) as compared to dry MA. It has also been shown that substituting Ta with W effectively suppresses GFA. After 100 h of MA of Co-Fe-W-B mixture, a nanocomposite material consisting of amorphous and nanocrystalline bcc-W phase was synthesized.


Polymers ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (7) ◽  
pp. 1034
Author(s):  
Oladipo Folorunso ◽  
Yskandar Hamam ◽  
Rotimi Sadiku ◽  
Suprakas Sinha Ray ◽  
Neeraj Kumar

In this study, a hybrid of graphene nanoplatelets with a polypyrrole having 20 wt.% loading of carbon-black (HGPPy.CB20%), has been fabricated. The thermal stability, structural changes, morphology, and the electrical conductivity of the hybrids were investigated using thermogravimetric analyzer, differential scanning calorimeter, X-ray diffraction analyzer, scanning electron microscope, and laboratory electrical conductivity device. The morphology of the hybrid shows well dispersion of graphene nanoplatelets on the surface of the PPy.CB20% and the transformation of the gravel-like PPy.CB20% shape to compact spherical shape. Moreover, the hybrid’s electrical conductivity measurements showed percolation threshold at 0.15 wt.% of the graphene nanoplatelets content and the curve is non-linear. The electrical conductivity data were analyzed by comparing different existing models (Weber, Clingerman and Taherian). The results show that Taherian and Clingerman models, which consider the aspect ratio, roundness, wettability, filler electrical conductivity, surface interaction, and volume fractions, closely described the experimental data. From these results, it is evident that Taherian and Clingerman models can be modified for better prediction of the hybrids electrical conductivity measurements. In addition, this study shows that graphene nanoplatelets are essential and have a significant influence on the modification of PPy.CB20% for energy storage applications.


2014 ◽  
Vol 70 (a1) ◽  
pp. C901-C901
Author(s):  
Solveig Madsen ◽  
Jacob Overgaard ◽  
Bo Iversen

Intramolecular electron transfer (ET) in mixed valence (MV) oxo-centered [FeiiFeiii2O(carboxylate)6(ligand)3]·solvent complexes is highly dependent on temperature, on the nature of the ligands, and on the presence of crystal solvent molecules [1]. Whereas the effects of temperature, crystal solvent, and ligand variation on the details of the ET have been explored thoroughly, the effect of pressure is less well described [2]. The effect of pressure on the ET in MV Fe3O(cyanoacetate)6(water)3has been investigated with single crystal X-ray diffraction and Mössbauer spectroscopy. Previous multi-temperature studies have shown that at room temperature the ET between the three Fe sites is fast and the observed structure of the Fe3core is a perfectly equilateral triangle [3]. Cooling the complex below 130 K induces a phase transition as the ET slows down. Below 120 K the Fe3core is distorted due to the localization of the itinerant electron on one of the three Fe sites in the triangle (the complex is then in the valence trapped state). The valence trapping is complete within a temperature interval of just 10 K. The abruptness of the transition has been attributed to the extended hydrogen bond network involving water ligands and cyano groups, promoting intermolecular cooperative effects. The high-pressure X-ray diffraction data show that there is a 900flip of half the cyano groups at 3.5 GPa, which dramatically changes the hydrogen bond network. At a slightly higher pressure, a phase transition is found to occur. The five single crystals investigated all broke into minor fragments at the transition; however triclinic unit cells, similar to the low temperature unit cell, could be indexed from selected spots. Additional evidence that the complex is valence trapped comes from high pressure Mössbauer spectra measured above the phase transition (4 GPa). The relationship between valence trapping and the structural changes will in this work be highlighted using void space and Hirshfeld surface analysis.


2017 ◽  
Vol 19 (31) ◽  
pp. 20867-20880 ◽  
Author(s):  
David C. Bock ◽  
Christopher J. Pelliccione ◽  
Wei Zhang ◽  
Janis Timoshenko ◽  
K. W. Knehr ◽  
...  

Crystal and atomic structural changes of Fe3O4upon electrochemical (de)lithiation were determined.


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