EPR evidence for the restricted mobility of NO2 in gamma irradiated thorium nitrate pentahydrate Th(NO3)4·5H2O
作者:B. Rajeswari、R.M. Kadam、B.A. Dhawale、Y. Babu、V. Natarajan、S.V. Godbole
DOI:10.1016/j.saa.2011.02.031
日期:2011.8
Electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) studies were conducted on gamma irradiated polycrystalline sample of thorium nitrate pentahydrate, Th(NO3)(4)center dot 5H(2)O, in the temperature range of 100-300 K. The most prominent species with triplet hyperfine structure in the EPR spectrum was identified as NO2. The EPR spectrum gave evidence for the stabilization of NO2 in at least three different sites slightly differing in spin Hamiltonian parameters (Site(1) : g(x) = 2.0042, g(y) = 1.9911, g(z) = 2.0020, A(x) = 54.20G, A(y) = 48.50 G and A(z) = 65.25 G; Site(2): g(x) = 2.0042, g(y) = 1.9911, g(z) = 2.0020, A(x) = 54.20 G, A(y) = 48.50 G and A(z) = 67.85 G; Site(3): g(x) = 2.0045, g(y) =1.9911, g(z) = 2.0015, A(x) = 54.20 G, A(y) = 49.05 G and A(z) = 72.45G). The EPR spectra for Site(1) revealed molecular dynamics of NO2 from a slow motion region to fast motion region as the sample temperature was varied from 100 to 300 K. This led to a change in EPR spectrum from orthorhombic to axial, indicating preferred rotation of NO2 molecule about the O-O bond direction. However, the NO2 molecule at Site(2) was found to be rigid throughout the entire temperature range. The differences in the mobility of NO2 molecules occupying the two sites could be attributed to the fact that in one case NO2 was bonded to thorium or water and in the other case it was weakly bound. The NO2 bound to thorium through two oxygen atoms or bound to thorium on one side through one oxygen atom and hydrogen bonded to water on the other side remains rigid throughout the entire temperature range, while NO2 situated at interstitial sites or adsorbed on the surface exhibits mobility with increase in temperature above 100 K. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.