Ryan F. Hess

Solid state chalcophosphate compounds of actinide elements

This work involves the exploration of ternary and quaternary compounds of the actinide chalcogenides using a Zintl ion building block approach. Zintl ions are closed shell, main-group ions that can coordinate to other elements in the compound in such a way that builds up the structure. A common Zintl ion in the chalcophosphate family is the ethane-like (P2Se6)4− anion, which has been found to bond to main group, transition metal and lanthanide elements in a variety of coordination modes. To achieve our goal of new actinide-metal Zintl phase material synthesis, we are employing a low-to-moderate temperature (300 °C–800 °C) molten salt technique. This technique utilizes low-melting binary alkali chalcogen salts like K2Se3 in combination with excess chalcogen as the oxidizing agent for the actinide metal and other main group elements to be incorporated into the final structure. This departure from conventional (high-temperature) routes to solid-state materials allows for formation and isolation of metastable...