skip to main content
OSTI.GOV title logo U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Title: Noble Gas-Actinide Compounds: Complexation of the CUO Molecule by Ar, Kr, and Xe Atoms in Noble Gas Matrices

Journal Article · · Science

The CUO molecule, formed from the reaction of laser-ablated U atoms with CO in a noble gas, exhibits very different stretching frequencies in a solid argon matrix (804.3 and 852.5 cm -1 ) than in a solid neon matrix (872.2 and 1047.3 cm -1 ). Related experiments in a matrix consisting of 1% Ar in Ne suggest that the Ar atoms are interacting directly with the CUO molecule. Relativistic density functional calculations predict that CUO can bind directly to an Ar atom (U-Ar= 3.16 angstroms; binding energy= 3.2 kcal/mol), accompanied by a change in the ground state from a singlet to a triplet. The experimental and theoretical results suggest the possibility that multiple Ar atoms can bind to a single CUO molecule.

Research Organization:
Pacific Northwest National Lab., Richland, WA (US), Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory (US)
Sponsoring Organization:
US Department of Energy (US)
DOE Contract Number:
AC06-76RL01830
OSTI ID:
15001734
Report Number(s):
PNNL-SA-35992; SCEHDK; 2385; KP1301030; TRN: US200412%%12
Journal Information:
Science, Vol. 295, Issue 5563; Other Information: PBD: 22 Mar 2002; ISSN 0193-4511
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English