Metal flux synthesis uses an excess of one or more metals with low melting points to grow crystals of intermetallic phases. This provides an opportunity to grow kinetically stable complex materials at lower temperatures than those used in traditional solid-state synthesis. This growth method is, therefore, a very productive technique for exploratory synthesis. Due to their key role in the nuclear fuel cycle, actinides have gained the attention of researchers for many decades. In addition to their industrial importance, uranium compounds also exhibit interesting magnetic properties, and these become more intriguing if the f-electrons couple with d-electrons of transition metals. The current work focuses on using a variety of metal fluxes to synthesize stable actinide materials with unusual magnetic properties. Actinide silicides are of particular interest due to their refractory properties. In this study, Ga, Al, Ga/Al, Zn/Al, and Sn fluxes were used to synthesize uranium transition metal (Ni/Co/Fe) silicide intermetallics, with the flux choice having a strong effect on what products were formed. The obtained crystals (including UNiSi2, UNiSi3, U1.05Ni4Al8Si1.8, U2Ni5Si6) were characterized using single crystal X-ray diffraction, SEM/EDS and magnetic susceptibility measurements. The stability of several products in different media and at high temperature was also explored.

Effects of metal flux composition on the growth of uranium silicide intermetallics

2019 Spring National Meeting

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