Electronic Structure and Properties of Berkelium Iodates

Abstract

High Resolution Image Download MS PowerPoint Slide The reaction of 249 Bk(OH) 4 with iodate under hydrothermal conditions results in the formation of Bk(IO 3 ) 3 as the major product with trace amounts of Bk(IO 3 ) 4 also crystallizing from the reaction mixture. The structure of Bk(IO 3 ) 3 consists of nine-coordinate Bk III cations that are bridged by iodate anions to yield layers that are isomorphous with those found for Am III, Cf III, and with lanthanides that possess similar ionic radii. Bk(IO 3 ) 4 was expected to adopt the same structure as M(IO 3 ) 4 (M = Ce, Np, Pu), but instead parallels the structural chemistry of the smaller Zr IV cation. Bk III –O and Bk IV –O bond lengths are shorter than anticipated and provide further support for a postcurium break in the actinide series. Photoluminescence and absorption spectra collected from single crystals of Bk(IO 3 ) 4 show evidence for doping with Bk III in these crystals. In addition to luminescence from Bk III in the Bk(IO 3 ) 4 crystals, a broad-band absorption feature is initially present that is similar to features observed in systems with intervalence charge transfer. However, the high-specific activity of 249 Bk ( t 1/2 = 320 d) causes oxidation of Bk III and only Bk IV is present after a few days with concomitant loss of both the Bk III luminescence and the broadband feature. The electronic structure of Bk(IO 3 ) 3 and Bk(IO 3 ) 4 were examined using a range of computational methods that include density functional theory both on clusters and on periodic structures, relativistic ab initio wave function calculations that incorporate spin–orbit coupling (CASSCF), and by a full-model Hamiltonian with spin–orbit coupling and Slater–Condon parameters (CONDON). Some of these methods provide evidence for an asymmetric ground state present in Bk IV that does not strictly adhere to Russel–Saunders coupling and Hund’s Rule even though it possesses a half-filled 5 f 7 shell. Multiple factors contribute to the asymmetry that include 5 f electrons being present in microstates that are not solely spin up, spin–orbit coupling induced mixing of low-lying excited states with the ground state, and covalency in the Bk IV –O bonds that distributes the 5 f electrons onto the ligands. These factors are absent or diminished in other f 7 ions such as Gd III or Cm III .