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

Title: Laser photolysis of UF/sub 6/: Reactions of the transient UF/sub 5/ molecules

Journal Article · · J. Chem. Phys.; (United States)
OSTI ID:6789501

Laser photolysis of UF/sub 6/ at 248 nm produces vibrationally and translationally excited UF/sub 5/ and F. At very low pressures (<0.1 Torr) in a long path-length reaction cell collisional stabilization is inefficient, which tends to increase the lifetime of the transient UF/sub 5/ molecule. From the kinetic analysis of the UF/sub 5/ absorption--decay curve and the UF/sub 6/ depletion measurements the following dimerization and fluorine atom recombination rate constants were determined for 298 K. RRKM calculations were performed for the formed UF/sub 6/ molecule which indicated the unimolecular decomposition rate constant to be approx.1 x 10/sup 6/ s/sup -1/. The calculated results indicate that in the primary photolysis about 2/5 of the excess energy above the threshold energy was partitioned into the relative translational energy which is in good agreement with the experimental kinetic analysis and also with the available molecular beam data. The translational energy release from the decomposition of the chemically activated UF/sub 6/ molecule is small and two energetically different UF/sub 5/ species are suggested.

Research Organization:
University of California, Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory, Los Alamos, New Mexico 87545
OSTI ID:
6789501
Journal Information:
J. Chem. Phys.; (United States), Vol. 73:11
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English