1. Targeting complex plutonium oxides by combining crystal chemical reasoning with density-functional theory calculations: the quaternary plutonium oxide Cs2PuSi6O15
- Author
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Ceren Kutahyali Aslani, Gregory Morrison, Vladislav V. Klepov, Hans-Conrad zur Loye, Travis K Deason, Matthew S. Christian, Kristen A. Pace, David P. DiPrete, Jake W. Amoroso, and Theodore M. Besmann
- Subjects
Work (thermodynamics) ,Materials science ,Metals and Alloys ,Oxide ,Flux ,chemistry.chemical_element ,Crystal growth ,General Chemistry ,Catalysis ,Silicate ,Surfaces, Coatings and Films ,Electronic, Optical and Magnetic Materials ,Plutonium ,Crystal ,chemistry.chemical_compound ,chemistry ,Materials Chemistry ,Ceramics and Composites ,Physical chemistry ,Density functional theory - Abstract
The stability of the novel Pu(iv) silicate, Cs2PuSi6O15, was predicted from a combination of crystal chemical reasoning and DFT calculations and confirmed by its synthesis via flux crystal growth. Formation enthalpies of the A2MSi6O15 (A = Na-Cs; M = Ce, Th, U-Pu) compositional family were calculated and indicated the Cs-containing phases should preferentially form in the Cmc21 structure type, consistent with previous experimental findings and the novel phases produced in this work, Cs2PuSi6O15 and Cs2CeSi6O15. The formation enthalpies of a second set of compositions, A2MSi3O9, were also calculated and a comparison between the two compositional families correctly predicted A2MSi6O15 to be on average more stable than A2MSi3O9.
- Published
- 2020