Plutonium nitride explained

Plutonium nitride is a binary inorganic compound of plutonium and nitrogen with the chemical formula .^{[1] [2]}

Synthesis

Plutonium nitride can be prepared by the reaction of plutonium hydrides with nitrogen or ammonia at a temperature of 650 °C and a pressure of 0.3 kPa.^[3]

Another method to prepare plutonium nitride is from the reduction of plutonium(III) iodide with sodium in liquid ammonia:

Other reactions can also produce plutonium nitride:^[4]

(at 1000°C)

(at 800–900°C)

Physical properties

Plutonium nitride forms grey crystals in the cubic system with Fm3m space group.^{[5] [6]} It can be dissolved electrochemically.^[7]

Uses

Plutonium nitride can be used as fuel in nuclear reactors.^{[8] [9]}

Notes and References

1. Book: Kotel'nikov . R.B. . Bashlykov . S.N. . Kashtanov . A.I. . Men'shikova . T.S. . Plutonium nitride and plutonium nitride base fuel materials . Nitrid plutoniya i toplivnye materialy na osnove nitrida plutoniya . Atomizdat . 3 February 2024 . 1978.
2. Lai . Chao . Hu . Yin . Qiu . Ruizhi . Exploring the sub-stoichiometric behavior of plutonium mononitride . . 2020 . 10 . 42 . 24877–24881 . 10.1039/D0RA00477D . 35517460 . 9055177 . 2020RSCAd..1024877L . en.
3. Book: Ahrland . S. . Bagnall . K. W. . Brown . D. . The Chemistry of the Actinides: Comprehensive Inorganic Chemistry . 7 June 2016 . . 978-1-4831-5934-8 . 343 . 3 February 2024 . en.
4. Book: Thomas . Charles Allen . The Chemistry, Purification and Metallurgy of Plutonium . 1944 . Office of Technical Information . 128 . 3 February 2024 . en.
5. Web site: mp-1719: PuN (cubic, Fm-3m, 225) . . 3 February 2024.
6. Web site: WebElements Periodic Table » Plutonium » plutonium nitride . winter.group.shef.ac.uk . 3 February 2024.
7. Shirai . O . Iwai . T . Shiozawa . K . Suzuki . Y . Sakamura . Y . Inoue . T . Electrolysis of plutonium nitride in LiCl–KCl eutectic melts . . 1 February 2000 . 277 . 2 . 226–230 . 10.1016/S0022-3115(99)00194-4 . 2000JNuM..277..226S . 3 February 2024 . 0022-3115.
8. Li . Ru-song . Tong . Ning-hua . Wang . Jin-tao . Xin . Du-qiang . Huang . Shi-qi . A first principle calculation on electronic properties of plutonium mononitride: Insights from dynamical mean field theory . . 1 December 2018 . 511 . 277–283 . 10.1016/j.jnucmat.2018.09.023 . 2018JNuM..511..277L . 105939793 . 3 February 2024 . 0022-3115.
9. Book: Hettwer . Ursula . Np, Pu... Transuranium Elements: INDEX. Alphabetical Index of Subjects and Substances . 29 June 2013 . . 978-3-662-05674-5 . 203 . 3 February 2024 . en.