1. Heat capacity, entropy, formation energy and spin-fluctuation behavior of U3Si5 from 2.4 to 397.4 K
- Author
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Tasheima Ulrich, Jason Baker, Robert R. Roback, J.T. White, Hongwu Xu, and Aiping Chen
- Subjects
Nuclear and High Energy Physics ,Materials science ,Standard molar entropy ,Enthalpy ,Intermetallic ,Thermodynamics ,Atmospheric temperature range ,Heat capacity ,Gibbs free energy ,Entropy (classical thermodynamics) ,symbols.namesake ,Nuclear Energy and Engineering ,symbols ,General Materials Science ,Debye model - Abstract
U-Si intermetallic compounds are of considerable interest for their applications as accident-tolerant nuclear fuels. Here we present low-temperature heat capacity (LTHC) measurements of one of the U-Si phases, U3Si5, using a Quantum Design Physical Properties Measurement System (PPMS) from 2.4 to 397.4 K. We observed an upturn in Cp/T (T) below 10 K and have attributed this behavior to potential spin-fluctuations (SF) with an SF temperature (Tsf) of 27 K. An enhancement of LTHC was also observed, as manifested by a large electronic heat capacity coefficient (γel) of 342.9 mJ/mol•K2. From the heat capacity data, the following thermodynamic parameters were determined: the characteristic Debye temperature ( θ D ) over the temperature range 30 – 397 K is 177 ± 2 K, and the standard entropy ( Δ 0 298 . 15 S ∘ ) is 283.3 ± 5.7 J•mol−1•K−1 (equivalent to 35.4 ± 0.7 J•mol−1•atom−1•K−1). Combined with our previously measured formation enthalpy ( Δ f H e l ∘ ) of U3Si5, the Gibbs free energy of formation of U3Si5 from the elements ( Δ f G e l ∘ ) was determined to be –45.2 ± 9.0 kJ•mol−1•atom−1.
- Published
- 2021