Probing the subtle differences between promethium and curium
Abstract Curium and promethium share similar chemical and physical properties thereby complicating their separation. Co-located processing at Oak Ridge National Laboratory results in curium contamination of the fission product stream containing promethium. To gain insight into the difficulty of this...
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| Format: | Article |
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Nature Portfolio
2025-04-01
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| Series: | Nature Communications |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-58209-3 |
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| author | Trenton B. Vogt Megan E. Simms Connor J. Parker April J. Miller Laetitia H. Delmau Richard T. Mayes Samantha K. Cary Alyssa N. Gaiser Cristian Celis-Barros Frankie D. White |
| author_facet | Trenton B. Vogt Megan E. Simms Connor J. Parker April J. Miller Laetitia H. Delmau Richard T. Mayes Samantha K. Cary Alyssa N. Gaiser Cristian Celis-Barros Frankie D. White |
| author_sort | Trenton B. Vogt |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Curium and promethium share similar chemical and physical properties thereby complicating their separation. Co-located processing at Oak Ridge National Laboratory results in curium contamination of the fission product stream containing promethium. To gain insight into the difficulty of this separation, the fundamental properties of these elements are experimentally and computationally probed in a 2,2’:6’,2”-terpyridine crystal system. Analysis of the isostructural compounds via single crystal X-ray diffraction and quantum theory of atoms in molecules reveals that bonding between promethium and curium is quite similar in this particular structure type. The small differences in the analysis of these two elements in this isostructural series sheds light on the difficulty required to separate the elements from each other. More so, this study develops the fundamental chemistries of two rare elements in the solid state and experimentally portrays the often-omitted position of promethium within the lanthanide series. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-c60cce8a162f4209968181de1968b23a |
| institution | OA Journals |
| issn | 2041-1723 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-04-01 |
| publisher | Nature Portfolio |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Nature Communications |
| spelling | doaj-art-c60cce8a162f4209968181de1968b23a2025-08-20T01:54:25ZengNature PortfolioNature Communications2041-17232025-04-011611610.1038/s41467-025-58209-3Probing the subtle differences between promethium and curiumTrenton B. Vogt0Megan E. Simms1Connor J. Parker2April J. Miller3Laetitia H. Delmau4Richard T. Mayes5Samantha K. Cary6Alyssa N. Gaiser7Cristian Celis-Barros8Frankie D. White9Department of Chemistry, Michigan State UniversityRadioisotope Science and Technology Division, Oak Ridge National LaboratoryRadioisotope Science and Technology Division, Oak Ridge National LaboratoryRadioisotope Science and Technology Division, Oak Ridge National LaboratoryRadioisotope Science and Technology Division, Oak Ridge National LaboratoryNuclear Energy and Fuel Cycle Division, Oak Ridge National LaboratoryRadioisotope Science and Technology Division, Oak Ridge National LaboratoryDepartment of Chemistry, Michigan State UniversityRadioisotope Science and Technology Division, Oak Ridge National LaboratoryRadioisotope Science and Technology Division, Oak Ridge National LaboratoryAbstract Curium and promethium share similar chemical and physical properties thereby complicating their separation. Co-located processing at Oak Ridge National Laboratory results in curium contamination of the fission product stream containing promethium. To gain insight into the difficulty of this separation, the fundamental properties of these elements are experimentally and computationally probed in a 2,2’:6’,2”-terpyridine crystal system. Analysis of the isostructural compounds via single crystal X-ray diffraction and quantum theory of atoms in molecules reveals that bonding between promethium and curium is quite similar in this particular structure type. The small differences in the analysis of these two elements in this isostructural series sheds light on the difficulty required to separate the elements from each other. More so, this study develops the fundamental chemistries of two rare elements in the solid state and experimentally portrays the often-omitted position of promethium within the lanthanide series.https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-58209-3 |
| spellingShingle | Trenton B. Vogt Megan E. Simms Connor J. Parker April J. Miller Laetitia H. Delmau Richard T. Mayes Samantha K. Cary Alyssa N. Gaiser Cristian Celis-Barros Frankie D. White Probing the subtle differences between promethium and curium Nature Communications |
| title | Probing the subtle differences between promethium and curium |
| title_full | Probing the subtle differences between promethium and curium |
| title_fullStr | Probing the subtle differences between promethium and curium |
| title_full_unstemmed | Probing the subtle differences between promethium and curium |
| title_short | Probing the subtle differences between promethium and curium |
| title_sort | probing the subtle differences between promethium and curium |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-58209-3 |
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