Transuranium properties

A further group of elements, the transuranium elements, has been synthesized by artificial nuclear reactions in the period from 1940 onwards their relation to the periodic table is discussed fully in Chapter 31 and need not be repeated here. Perhaps even more striking today are the predictions, as yet unverified, for the properties of the currently non-existent superheavy elements.Elements up to lawrencium (Z = 103) are actinides (5f) and the 6d transition series starts with element 104. So far only elements 104-112 have been synthesized, ) and, because there is as yet no agreement on trivial names for some of these elements (see pp. 1280-1), they are here referred to by their atomic numbers. A systematic naming scheme was approved by lUPAC in 1977 but is not widely used by researchers in the field. It involves the use of three-letter symbols derived directly from the atomic number by using the... 

Battelle Pacific Northwest Labs. 1975. Effect of physico-chemical properties on metabolism of transuranium oxide aerosols inhaled by beagle dogs. Richland, WA Battelle Pacific Northwest Labs. BNWLSA5430. 

Symbol Cf atomic number 98 atomic weight 251 (the principal isotope) californium is a transuranium radioactive actinide element electron configuration [Rn]5/i°7s2 valence state +3 most stable isotope Cf, half-life 800 years isotope properties are presented below ... 

Magnetic susceptibility measurements are basic to the study of the magnetic properties of a compound samples under powder form are sufficient to start with and, what is very important in the case of actinides, small amounts of material are satisfactory (typically 100 mg). When working with transuranium compounds, safety requirements are fulfilled by working with sealed containers ... 

Plutonium is the only transuranium element which has been found in nature. Until its properties were known it would have been impossible to detect it in the minute amounts in which it occurs, but when its behavior was understood, Seaborg and his co-workers were able to find it in pitchblende, monazite ores, and carnotite in concentrations of about one part in 1014 (63, 73, 76). Peppard and his group found it in somewhat greater amounts in pitchblende from the Belgian Congo (77). Seaborg believes that most of this plutonium arises by fission of the uranium in the ore, though other processes may also be involved (77, 78). 

Keller, C. and B Erdmann Preparation and Properties of Transuranium Element-Noble Metal Alloy Phases, Proc. 1972 Moscow Symp. Chem. Transuranium Elements, 1976. 

The chemical elements are the building blocks of nature. All substances are combinations of these elements. There are (as of 2005) 113 known chemical elements with the heaviest naturally occurring element being uranium (Z = 92). The 22 heaviest chemical elements, the transuranium elements, are manmade. The story of their synthesis, their properties, their impact on chemistry and physics, and their importance to society is fascinating. This story is of particular importance to nuclear chemistry because most of our knowledge of these elements and their properties comes from the work of nuclear chemists, and such work continues to be a major area of nuclear chemical research. One of us (GTS) has been intimately involved in the discovery and characterization of these transuranium elements. 

In this chapter, we will discuss how to make these elements, their chemical properties, and their presence in the environment. The current list of transuranium elements is shown in Table 15.1 with a modem view of their place in the periodic table being shown in Figure 15.1. 

The M(OR) derivatives are known now for almost all the elements of the Periodic Table (including the transuranium elements and Xenon). They are formal analogs of hydroxides but possess much higher thermal stability. Their properties are determined not only by the electronegativity of the metal atom but also by the nature of the radical — its ramification and the acidity of the corresponding alcohol, which provides their various properties. From this point of view they can be subdivided into the following groups of compounds ... 

The lanthanide and actinide elements are located at the bottom of the periodic table in two rows separate from the rest of the elements. By atomic number, they should be located in Periods 6 and 7, but they have special properties that distinguish them from elements in those periods. Lanthanides are very similar to each other and have some industrial uses. Many of the actinides were discovered as part of the first atomic bomb experiments. They are highly radioactive and have few uses. The transuranium elements were mostly created in the laboratory and are very short-lived. 

Especially interesting in a discussion of radionuclide speciation is the behaviour of the transuranium elements neptunium, plutonium, americium and curium. These form part of the actinide series of elements which resemble the lanthanides in that electrons are progressively added to the 5f instead of the 4f orbital electron shell. The effective shielding of these 5f electrons is less than for the 4f electrons of the lanthanides and the differences in energy between adjacent shells is also smaller, with the result that the actinide elements tend to display more complex chemical properties than the lanthanides, especially in relation to their oxidation-reduction behaviour (Bagnall, 1972). The effect is especially noticeable in the case of uranium, neptunium and plutonium, the last of which has the unique feature that four oxidation states Pum, Pu, Puv and Pu are... 

The information presented in this chapter will be included in the material property database for f-elements and compounds (/-MPD) of the Institute of Transuranium Elements, which is accessible through internet.3 Complete thermodynamic tables can be retrieved at that site, which will be updated regularly with new information. 

Earlier reviews of the physicochemical properties of berkelium are available in several new supplement series volumes of Gmelin Handbuch der Anorganischen Chemie (G. Koch, editor, Springer-Verlag, New York) and in The Chemistry of the Transuranium Elements (C. Keller, 1971, Verlag Chemie, Weinheim). 

Already many more elements have been synthesized than could be predicted in the early 1960s. Higher neutron-flux reactors could make the necessary amounts of the heavier transuranium elements needed for synthesis of the elements beyond 112. Much will depend upon whether the more neutron-rich isotopes with longer half-lives, essential for any study of chemical properties, can be made. The only safe prediction is the unpredictability of this area. 

Chemical studies show it to have properties very similar to uranium and neptunium but the lower cixidation states are rnon stable. Americium, atomic number 95, was the fourth transuranium element obtained. The reactions taking place on the bombardment of U by high energy... 

Tanthanide chemistry is approaching its 200th Anniversary, but except for data on thorium and uranium the chemistry of the actinides is a comparative youngster of some 30 years. However, the two chemistries are intimately associated because their elements are of the f transition type and thus formally comparable with each other and different from other elements. Indeed, these parallels made it possible to unravel actinide behavior in the early days of transuranium element production. In addition to their chemical similarities, the two series also share the properties of magnetism and radiant energy absorption and emission characteristic of /-electron species. However, important differences exist also, particularly in oxidation states, in bonding, and in complex-ion formation. 

If you read through the names of the transuranium elements, you ll notice that many of them have been named in honor of their discoverers or the laboratories at which they were created. There are ongoing efforts throughout the world s major scientific research centers to synthesize new transuranium elements and study their properties. 

Rand, M. H., Fuger, J., The thermodynamic properties of the transuranium halides Part 1, Neptunium and plutonium halides, ITU, European Commission Joint Research Centre report. Report 17332 EN, (2000). Cited on pages 500, 513, 522, 528, 546, 547. 

The chemistry of transition metals, lanthanides and actinides is significantly influenced by relativistic effects. Qualitatively, these effects become apparent in the comparison of certain structural properties or reactivity patterns for a group of metals, for example, trends in the chemistry of copper, silver and gold. Quantification of relativistic effects can, however, only be achieved by relating the experimental findings to the results of adequate ab initio studies. Reference to theory is required because nonrelativistic properties cannot be probed directly. Thus, elements behave relativis-tically in any kind of experiment, whether one deals with the spectrum of Hj or the properties of transuranium compounds. 

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