Neptunium physical properties

The chemistry of plutonium is unique in the periodic table. This theme is exemplified throughout much of the research work that is described in this volume. Many of the properties of plutonium cannot be estimated accurately based on experiments with lighter elements, such as uranium and neptunium. Because massive amounts of plutonium have been and are being produced throughout the world, the need to define precisely its chemical and physical properties and to predict its chemical behavior under widely varying conditions will persist. In addition to these needs, there is an intrinsic fundamental interest in an element with so many unusual properties and with so many different oxidation states, each with its own chemistry. 

All isotopes of plutonium are radioactive. The two isotopes that have found the most uses are Pu-238 and Pu-239. Pu-238 is produced by bombarding U-238 with deuterons in a cyclotron, creating neptunium-238 and two free neutrons. Np-238 has a half-life of about two days, and through beta decay it transmutates into plutonium-238. There are six allotropic metallic crystal forms of plutonium. They all have differing chemical and physical properties. The alpha (a) aUotrope is the only one that exists at normal room temperatures and pressures. The alpha allotrope of metallic plutonium is a silvery color that becomes yellowish as it oxidizes in air. AH the other allotropic forms exist at high temperatures. 

The first actinide metals to be prepared were those of the three members of the actinide series present in nature in macro amounts, namely, thorium (Th), protactinium (Pa), and uranium (U). Until the discovery of neptunium (Np) and plutonium (Pu) and the subsequent manufacture of milligram amounts of these metals during the hectic World War II years (i.e., the early 1940s), no other actinide element was known. The demand for Pu metal for military purposes resulted in rapid development of preparative methods and considerable study of the chemical and physical properties of the other actinide metals in order to obtain basic knowledge of these unusual metallic elements. 

Large series of triscyclopentadienyl thorium, uranium, and neptunium hydrocarbyls (Op n C5H5) have been prepared since the mld-1970 s (eqs.(8), (9), and (10)). The chemical and physical properties of... 

The physical properties of the transuranic metals are of considerable interest for a number of reasons. Plutonium in particular is becoming increasingly important in the large-scale production of power and it, as well as neptunium, is interesting as a member of a new series of elements which in some ways appears to resemble that of the rare earth metals. A good deal of the relevant information concerning the physical behavior of these metals has to be obtained by measurement of their low-temperature properties. 

The transuranium elements such as neptunium, plutonium or americium form hexafluoride compounds at their highest valency state with physical properties close to those of UF6 but these compounds are not stable when the fluorine partial pressme decreases. Under such conditions they are converted into a lower valency state and remain as a soUd product. This means that the main fraction of these impurities can be collected as ash or dust if there is still a small proportion remaining in the liquid UFe, it can be removed by a special filter before the container is filled. The specified upper limit for residual transuranium activity in the reprocessed uranium amounts to 2.5Bq/gU, with Pu, Pu and Np as the guide isotopes. 

The actinoid series encompasses the fourteen chemical elements with atomic numbers from 90 to 103, thorium (Th) to lawrencium (Lr). The actinoid series derives its name from the group-IIla element actinium (Ac) which can be included in the series for the purpose of comparison. Only Th and uranium (U) occur in usable quantities in nature. The other actinoids are man-made elements. Pure Th is a silvery-white metal which is air-stable and retains its luster for several months. U exhibits three crystallographic modifications as follows a (688°C) —> P (776°C) —> U is a heavy, silvery-white metal. The luster of freshly prepared americium (Am) is white and more silvery than neptunium (Np) or plutonium (Pu) prepared in the same manner. All actinoid elements are radioactive. Table 2.113 sutnmarizes some physical properties of actinoid metals (Th, U and Am). 

Within a day, Abelson recalls, I established that the 2.3-day activity had chemical properties different from those of any known element. [It] behaved much like uranium. Apparently the transuranics were not metals like rhenium and osmium but were part of a new series of rare-earth-like elements similar to uranium. For a rigorous proof that they had found a transuranic the two men isolated a pure uranium sample with strong 23-minute U239 activity and demonstrated with half-life measurements that the 2.3-day activity increased in intensity as the 23-minute activity declined. If the 2.3-day activity was different chemically from any other element and was created in the decay of U239, then it must be element 93. McMillan and Abelson wrote up their results. McMillan had already thought of a name for the new element— neptunium, for the next planet out beyond Uranus—but they chose not to offer the name in their report. They mailed the report, Radioactive element 93, to the Physical Review on May 27, 1940, the same day Louis Turner sent Szilard his transuranic theories anticipation and discovery can cut that close in science. 

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