Uranium Nitride Synthesis Breakthrough

  • Thread starter Thread starter sanman
  • Start date Start date
  • Tags Tags
    Synthesis Uranium
AI Thread Summary
Recent announcements from Los Alamos National Labs and the University of Nottingham highlight advancements in the synthesis of Uranium Nitride, but they describe different compounds and methods. Los Alamos utilized photolysis to create a boron-capped nitride, suggesting that an intermediary UN triple bond may have formed. In contrast, the University of Nottingham successfully synthesized a stable Uranium-V complex with a UN triple bond, characterized through various methods. The two approaches are not the same, indicating distinct synthesis paths rather than variations of a single method. The differences in their outcomes raise questions about the advantages and disadvantages of each synthesis technique. For more detailed insights, the original research articles and a perspective piece in Science magazine provide further context.
sanman
Messages
737
Reaction score
24
There have been some recent announcements in the news about the synthesis of Uranium Nitride.

One announcement from Los Alamos National Labs mentions the use of photolysis to achieve the desired material:

http://tri-lab.lanl.gov/index.php/energy-security/75-using-light-to-create-rare-uranium-molecule


Another announcement from University of Nottingham mentions the use of sodium to achieve the desired material:

http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/chemistry/news/uranium-nitride-breakthrough.aspx


Are they talking about the same resulting material in both announcements? Are these 2 different methods of synthesis for the same material? Or are they the same synthesis path?

If they are 2 paths to the same thing, then what are the pro's and cons relative to each other?
 
Chemistry news on Phys.org
I had a look at the two articles today. The two compounds are not the same. The Nottingham group succeeded in synthesizing a stable Uranium-V complex with a UN triple bond which they could characterize by many methods.
The Los Alamos group could only synthesize an boron caped nitride with evidence that a UN triple bond may have been formed as an itermediary.
The original articles are here
http://server.ihim.uran.ru/files/info/2010/nchem.705.pdf
and there
http://www.sciencemag.org/content/337/6095/717.short
in the same science magazine there is also a perspective article
http://www.sciencemag.org/content/337/6095/652.summary
from which you may learn more than the spelling of the inflationary word "breakthrough" from the press releases.
 

Thread 'Solubility of MgSO47H2O in water'

It seems like a simple enough question: what is the solubility of epsom salt in water at 20°C? A graph or table showing how it varies with temperature would be a bonus. But upon searching the internet I have been unable to determine this with confidence. Wikipedia gives the value of 113g/100ml. But other sources disagree and I can't find a definitive source for the information. I even asked chatgpt but it couldn't be sure either. I thought, naively, that this would be easy to look up without...
View full post »

Thread 'Why does having 8 valence electrons make an element inert?'

I was introduced to the Octet Rule recently and make me wonder, why does 8 valence electrons or a full p orbital always make an element inert? What is so special with a full p orbital? Like take Calcium for an example, its outer orbital is filled but its only the s orbital thats filled so its still reactive not so much as the Alkaline metals but still pretty reactive. Can someone explain it to me? Thanks!!
View full post »

Similar threads

News What do you think about the deal with North Korea?
Replies
6
Views
4K
How bright is the future of Maglev Cars?
Replies
19
Views
11K
News Bush Honest & Trustworthy Until How Many Lies?
2
Replies
65
Views
10K

Hot Threads

Recent Insights

Back
Top