Christopher C. Underwood

Hydrothermal Descriptive Chemistry and Single Crystal Structure Determination of Cesium and Rubidium Thorium Fluorides

Two new cesium thorium fluorides and three new rubidium thorium fluorides have been synthesized hydrothermally and structurally characterized. The structures of two polymorphs of CsTh(3)F(13) are described in space group P6/mmm with a = 8.2608(14) and c = 8.6519(17) and space group Pmc2(1) with a = 8.1830(16), b = 7.5780(15), and c = 8.6244(17). The analogous orthorhombic compound RbTh(3)F(13), with a = 8.1805(16), b = 7.4378(15), and c = 8.6594(17) in space group Pmc2(1), is also reported. Two other rubidium thorium fluorides are also described: RbTh(2)F(9) crystallizes in the space group Pnma where a = 8.9101(18), b = 11.829(2), and c = 7.4048(15), and Rb(7)Th(6)F(31) crystallizes in the space group R3 where a = 15.609(2) and c = 10.823(2). Comparison of these materials was made on the basis of their structures and synthesis conditions. The formation of these species in hydrothermal fluids appears to be dependent upon the concentration of the alkali fluoride mineralizer solution and, thus, the ratio of alkali ions to thorium in the system.

Hydrothermal chemistry, structures, and luminescence studies of alkali hafnium fluorides.

This paper describes the hydrothermal chemistry of alkali hafnium fluorides, including the synthesis and structural characterization of five new alkali hafnium fluorides. Two ternary alkali hafnium fluorides are described: Li(2)HfF(6) in space group P31m with a = 4.9748(7) Å and c = 4.6449(9) Å and Na(5)Hf(2)F(13) in space group C2/m with a = 11.627(2) Å, b = 5.5159(11) Å, and c = 8.4317(17) Å. Three new alkali hafnium oxyfluorides are also described: two fluoroelpasolites, K(3)HfOF(5) and (NH(4))(3)HfOF(5), in space group Fm3m with a = 8.9766(10) and 9.4144(11) Å, respectively, and K(2)Hf(3)OF(12) in space group R3m with a = 7.6486(11) Å and c = 28.802(6) Å. Infrared (IR) spectra were obtained for the title solids to confirm the structure solutions. Comparison of these materials was made based on their structures and synthesis conditions. The formation of these species in hydrothermal fluids appears to be dependent upon both the concentration of the alkali fluoride mineralizer solution and the reaction temperature. Both X-ray and visible fluorescence studies were conducted on compounds synthesized in this study and showed that fluorescence was affected by a variety of factors, such as alkali metal size, the presence/absence of oxygen in the compound, and the coordination environment of Hf(4+).

Twinned caesium cerium(IV) penta-fluoride.

Single-crystals of CsCeF5 were synthesized hydrothermally. The crystal under investigation was twinned by pseudo-merohedry with a twofold rotation around the c axis as an additional twinning operation. The crystal structure is built of layers of distorted edge- and corner-sharing CeF8 square-antiprisms. The Cs+ cations are located between the layers and exhibit coordination numbers of nine. Upon compression, CsCeF5 undergoes an irreversible phase transition at about 1 GPa.