actinide element

▪ chemical element group

Introduction

      any of a series of 15 consecutive chemical elements in the periodic table from actinium to lawrencium (atomic numbers 89–103). As a group they are significant largely because of their radioactivity. Although several members of the group, including uranium (the most familiar), occur naturally, most are man-made. Both uranium and plutonium have been used in atomic bombs for their explosive power and currently are being employed in nuclear plants for the production of electrical power.

General comparisons

 The actinide elements follow one another in the seventh series of the periodic table (see Figure—>). Each has 86 electrons arranged as in the atoms of the noble gas radon (which precedes actinium by several spaces in the table), with three more electrons that may be positioned in the 6d and 7s orbitals (the seventh shell is outermost), and with additional electrons packing into inside orbitals. Specifically, the series is formed by the insertion of one more electron for each successive new element into an underlying 5f orbital. The valence electrons, however, are found mainly in the 6d and 7s orbitals. Thus, the chief difference among the atoms of the elements of the series is the single additional electron deep within the electron cloud; but the fact is that, because of its position in the 5th shell, this distinguishing electron actually affects the chemical properties of the actinides only in a relatively minor way; 5f electrons are not involved in the formation of chemical bonds with other atoms.

      As is usual with the elements of any group, there are a number of exceptions to these generalities, particularly in the lower members of the series; but for most of these elements, the concept of a series of nearly identical actinide elements is a useful guide for predicting their chemical and physical properties.

      Like all elements, each actinide has its own particular atomic number, equal to the number of protons in the nucleus and, consequently, to the number of electrons; at the same time the atoms of an element are capable of existing in a number of forms (isotopes (isotope)), each of which has a different number of neutrons in its nucleus and hence a different atomic mass. Although isotopes of a given element behave alike chemically, they may have different stabilities in relation to radioactive decay, which is a property of the nucleus. No element beyond bismuth in the periodic classification—i.e., no element that has an atomic number greater than 83—has any stable isotopes; radioactive isotopes of every element in the table can be produced in the laboratory. The actinides are unusual in forming a series of 15 elements having no stable isotopes; every actinide isotope undergoes radioactive decay, and, as a result, only a few of the lighter, more stable members of the series (such as thorium and uranium) are found in nature. The half-life, or the precise time required for one-half of any amount of a particular isotope to disappear due to radioactive decay, is a measure of the stability of that isotope. The naturally occurring isotopes in the actinide series have long half-lives, of the order of billions of years.

Practical applications of the actinides

      The practical significance of the actinides arises from the fissionability (nuclear fission), or potential for splitting, of certain of their isotopes. When an atomic nucleus breaks apart, or undergoes fission, a far more disruptive process than ordinary radioactive decay, enormous amounts of energy are liberated. This energy can be allowed to generate an atomic explosion, or it can be controlled and used as a fuel to generate heat for the production of electrical power. Nuclear processes for power production give off no smoke, smog, or noxious gases, as conventional coal- or gas-fueled plants do. Nuclear power plants, however, do yield waste heat that may be considered as thermal pollution, and they also yield useless and dangerous radioactive wastes which, although they are pollutants, may be less undesirable than those from fossil-fuel generators. For this and other reasons, such as economy of operation, there is a potential for an enormous electrical energy production inherent in nuclear energy generating technologies, and, since the actinide elements are the only known fissionable materials, the practical impact of their availability is great. The isotope of uranium with the atomic number 92 and mass 235, written as uranium-235 or, in chemical symbols, as ²³⁵U, is present to the extent of only about 0.7 percent in ordinary uranium, but it is a necessary fissionable material in the operation of a nuclear reactor using natural uranium. Other fissionable isotopes of great importance are uranium-233, plutonium-239, and plutonium-241.

      Fissionable plutonium isotopes are formed as by-products of fission in reactors using uranium; when neutrons are added to uranium-238, which is not itself fissionable, it is converted to the fissionable isotope plutonium-239. thorium, also, is potentially of great economic value, because one of its isotopes, thorium-232, can be converted into the fissionable isotope uranium-233 in a nuclear breeder reactor (i.e., one that produces more fissionable material than it consumes), thus increasing by many times available supplies of fissionable materials. Since thorium is about three times more plentiful than uranium, the potential use of this element to produce nuclear energy is significant.

      The heavier actinides, those beyond plutonium in the periodic table, are of interest principally to research scientists, though they have some practical uses as sources of thermoelectric heat and neutrons. They are employed to some extent in cancer therapy.

       actinium, thorium, protactinium, and uranium are the only actinide elements found in nature to any significant extent. The remaining actinide elements, commonly called the transuranium elements, are all man-made by bombarding naturally occurring actinides with neutrons or with heavy ions (charged particles) in particle accelerators (such as cyclotrons). The actinides beyond uranium do not occur in nature (except, in some cases, in trace amounts), since the stability of their isotopes decreases with increase in atomic number and whatever quantities may be produced decay too fast to accumulate. The half-life of uranium-238, the most stable uranium isotope, is 4.5 × 10⁹ years. Plutonium-239 has a half-life of 24,400 years and is produced in reactors in ton amounts; but nobelium and lawrencium, elements 102 and 103, with half-lives of seconds, are produced a few atoms at a time. The first of these synthetic actinide elements to be discovered (1940) was neptunium, symbol Np, atomic number 93, which was prepared by bombardment of uranium metal with neutrons.

Properties of the group

Chemical properties

      The chemistry of any element can be understood best in terms of atomic structure and its effect on the formation of chemical bonds. In the actinide series, just as in the lanthanides (lanthanide contraction), added electrons (with increasing atomic number) go into internal f orbitals, where they are partially buried and consequently not chemically active. These two series occur in Group IIIb of the periodic table; because the outer, or valence, electrons of these elements are much the same, the chemical properties of the elements in the two series tend to resemble one another closely. A great deal is known about the lanthanides, all but one of which occur in nature as stable isotopes and, therefore, predictions about the chemistry of the actinides, some of which can be prepared only in minute quantities, can be made with some success by comparing their electron structures with those of the lanthanides. In the lanthanide series of elements, as indicated above, each added electron goes into the f orbital of the fourth shell; these orbitals are designated as 4f. In the actinide elements, the added electrons also go into an f orbital in a similar manner, but in the fifth shell, instead. Electrons with larger quantum numbers generally are farther from the nucleus than those with smaller quantum numbers, and are therefore usually less strongly held by it. As expected, then, electrons in the 5f orbitals, being farther from the nucleus, are much less tightly bound than are those in 4f orbitals and, in fact, sometimes are active enough to take part in chemical reactions. The result is that the actinide elements, in which the 5f orbitals are being filled, have more variable valences (number of electrons available for chemical bonds) than do the lanthanides, in which the 4f orbitals are being filled.

      The similarities between many lanthanide and actinide compounds are striking and offer a useful comparison. Under certain conditions, for example, actinium, americium, curium, and berkelium metals have the same crystal structure, as do many of the lanthanides. It is not yet known whether californium or einsteinium, the only other actinide elements with sufficiently stable isotopes for chemical work, have the same structure. Several of the lighter actinide elements from thorium through plutonium have different and unusual metallic structures, presumably due to the mixing of 5f and 6d orbitals in their atoms, some electrons entering unfilled 6d orbitals rather than the expected 5f orbitals.

      The actinides generally show multiple oxidation states (oxidation number). Compounds of americium and californium with an oxidation state of +2 are known; there are reasons for expecting the existence of this state in some of the elements heavier than californium. For example, spectroscopic evidence for einsteinium(II) in the presence of the fluoride ion has been obtained. Divalent actinides (that is, actinides in the +2 oxidation state) form compounds with nearly the same properties as those of the divalent lanthanides and, accordingly, iodides, bromides, and chlorides of divalent americium and californium have been found to be stable. If X symbolizes the nonactinide and M symbolizes the actinide element, then the general formula for these compounds would be one atom of actinide and two atoms of nonactinide: MX₂.

      Great similarities in chemical behaviour are found in the actinides of oxidation state +3, from actinium to einsteinium; furthermore, they are much like the lanthanides of the same oxidation state. The crystal types and many physical properties of these trivalent actinides are dependent more on the size of the +3 ion (an atom that has given up three electrons and has become an ion with three positive charges, symbolized as Ac⁺³, etc.) of the particular element that is involved. For instance, the solubility of the trifluorides formed by actinides with a +3 state (thorium and protactinium have no such state) is exceedingly low. The crystal-structure type for the actinide trifluorides is the same as that of lanthanum trifluoride, and, since the radius of the ion is a regular function of the atomic number, the circumstance allows extrapolation from the lanthanum compound to the actinide compound and interpolation between known compounds in the series to determine missing values. The hydroxides, phosphates, oxalates, and alkali double sulfates of the actinides are also insoluble, with many of each having identical crystal structures, or being isostructural. The chlorides, bromides, and iodides (i.e., the halides) of the actinides are, for the most part, isostructural for any one halide, and the structure type can be predicted from a knowledge of the ionic radius. The solubility of these halides in water is generally great. The +3 oxides (oxide) of actinides are also isostructural, with the general formula M₂O₃, in which M is any of the actinide elements; they form cubic (or hexagonal) crystals, and the sizes of the molecules are thus easily predictable. Generally, then, the chemistry of the actinides in the +3 oxidation state is similar, with the differences mainly due to ionic size. As a consequence of these similarities, separations of the elements and of their components are frequently difficult, necessitating the use of methods in which very slight physical differences of the atoms or ions serve to separate the chemically almost identical materials. Two methods are ion-exchange reactions (ion-exchange reaction), in which differences in ions and bonding are used to effect separation and solvent extraction, in which specific solvents are used to dissolve and withdraw from the mixture the desired element or its compound.

      Actinides in the +4 oxidation state also are much alike (and also resemble the +4 lanthanides). The +4 actinides, thorium, protactinium, uranium, neptunium, plutonium, berkelium, and, to a lesser extent, americium and curium, are sufficiently stable to undergo chemical reactions in water solutions. Crystallized compounds in the +4 state exist for thorium, protactinium, uranium, neptunium, plutonium, americium, curium, berkelium, and californium. The oxides and many complex fluorides are known for all of these elements. The dioxides are all isostructural, as are the tetrafluorides. Most of these actinide compounds can be prepared in a dry state by igniting the metal itself, or one of its other compounds, in an atmosphere of oxygen or of fluorine. Some tetrachlorides, bromides, and iodides are known for thorium, uranium, and neptunium. The ease with which they can be formed decreases with increasing atomic number. Berkelium(IV) appears to be sufficiently stable to allow the preparation of the tetrachloride. Hydroxides (hydroxide) of a number of these elements in the +4 state also are known; they are of very low solubility, as are the fluorides, oxalates, and phosphates. Again, many physical properties of the tetrafluorides are influenced more by ionic size than by atomic number, and isostructurality of these actinide and lanthanide compounds is the rule rather than the exception.

      The similarities exhibited by the lanthanide and actinide compounds in the +3 and +4 oxidation states, as well as in some cases by the free elements, can be very useful. A great many individual differences, however, do arise. These are due, in part, to mixing of the orbitals (some electrons moving into d rather than f orbitals) and, in part, to the relative degrees of binding of the f electrons.

Special properties

Chemical

      The metals thorium, protactinium, uranium, neptunium, and plutonium are for the most part different from one another. Uranium, neptunium, and plutonium have extremely dense metallic forms. Neptunium, for example, with a density of 20.45 grams per cubic centimetre when crystallized into the orthorhombic crystal form, is one of the densest metals known to man. A possible explanation for the fact that these metals show a number of different crystal forms is that the electrons in the 5f orbitals mix with those in the 6d orbitals and consequently form a number of hybrid electronic states of nearly the same energy. Beginning with americium, however, the electron energy levels seem to be sufficiently separated so that mixing does not occur.

      The other main differences shown by the actinides is that some possess the +5, +6, and +7 oxidation states (no lanthanide element exceeds the +4 state). It appears that the 5f electrons of the actinides, being far enough from the positively charged nucleus, permit increasingly easier removal and consequent formation of higher oxidation states. The element protactinium shows the +5 state; uranium, neptunium, and americium exhibit the +5 and +6 states; only neptunium and plutonium have the +7 state.

      There are two types of chemical reactions for the +5 and +6 states. If M symbolizes any actinide, and O, as usual, symbolizes oxygen, then the ions found both in aqueous (water) solution and in solids prepared from solution are represented by the general formulas MO₂⁺ (meaning a molecule consisting of one atom of M with two of oxygen, the whole having a single positive charge) and MO₂²⁺. In nonaqueous solution, and in solids prepared from them, compounds of M that do not contain oxygen are known. With the halogens (X being a general designation for a halogen—fluorine, chlorine, bromine, or iodine), compounds are known that can be represented as MX₅ (meaning a molecule consisting of one atom of an actinide with five atoms of a halide) and MX₆, as well as complexes of the type having the molecular formulas MX₆⁻, MX₇²⁻, and MX₈³⁻ for the +5 states, and MX₇ ⁻ and MX₈²⁻ for the +6 states. Neptunium(VII) and plutonium(VII) have been prepared in basic solution, and certain oxygenated ions (of the type represented by MO₅³⁻) as well as a few solid compounds, have been identified with the same oxidation state. Complex oxides with alkali metals in which these two elements have the +7 state also have been prepared.

Physiological

      All the actinide elements are heavy metals and, as such, are toxic, just as lead is toxic—relatively large amounts ingested over a long period cause serious illness. But, with the exception of the long-lived thorium and uranium isotopes, the real danger with the actinide elements lies in the radioactive properties of these elements. They are emitters of tissue-destroying and cancer-producing rays (alpha, beta, or gamma; see radioactivity). Furthermore, the chemistry of many of these elements is such that, once ingested, they tend to remain in the body almost indefinitely. Several, such as plutonium and americium, migrate to the bone marrow, where their radiation interferes with the production of red blood cells. As a consequence, workers using these elements are required to take elaborate precautions to prevent ingestion. Less than one-millionth of a gram can be fatal.

Nuclear

      All of the actinide elements are unstable toward radioactive decay; the reason that actinium, thorium, protactinium, and uranium are found in nature at all is because some of their isotopes are unusually stable and others are being formed constantly by decay of the long-lived isotopes. It is convenient to divide the naturally occurring isotopes into families based on the relationships of their atomic masses to each other. The mass numbers of all isotopes of the so-called thorium series, for instance, turn out to be multiples of four, and the series is known as the 4n series. In the uranium series, masses have been shown to be such that they are represented by 4n + 2; and in the actinium series, by 4n + 3. Not found in nature to any significant extent, but which can be artificially produced by man, is the neptunium (neptunium series), or 4n + 1 series, named for its longest-lived member, neptunium-237.

      In the various radioactive decay processes, several “rays” are emitted, the term ray being a holdover from the time when all of these emissions were thought to be rays. They are: (1) electrons, called beta particles (beta particle) to indicate their origin in radioactive decay, and designated as negative beta, or β−, particles; (2) helium nuclei, called alpha particles (alpha particle) and designated as α particles, or as helium with a plus two charge, He⁺²; (3) gamma rays (gamma ray), which are electromagnetic waves of very high frequency, designated as γ rays; (4) positrons (positron), which are positively charged electrons and are designated as positive beta, or β+, particles. Finally, an orbital electron in a radioactive atom may be captured by the nucleus and taken into it. This radioactive event is called K-capture (electron capture). Except for the emission of gamma rays, each of these processes leads to an isotope of a different element; that is, to a substance with a different atomic number. The emission of an alpha particle leads to a change in atomic weight as well, because this emission has significant mass. The changes occur in sequence, each decay process leading to still another unstable element, until a region of stable isotopes of the elements lead and bismuth is reached.

      The most important nuclear reactions, however, involve the capture of neutrons by an actinide nucleus, followed by splitting, or fission, of that nucleus into two unequal parts, with the liberation of enormous quantities of energy plus two or more extra neutrons. Nuclear reactors and atomic bombs depend upon the chain reaction set up by this process: the resulting neutrons react further, inducing more fission reactions, which produce more neutrons, which lead to still more fission reactions, with the result that, without control, a great deal of energy is liberated very quickly.

      One gram of burning coal yields fewer than 10,000 calories of heat. The fission of one gram of uranium-235 produces 2 × 10¹⁰ calories, or about 2,000,000 times as much energy. With adequate control the energy can be released in useful form.

      The most important actinide by far, because of its fissionability, is uranium, which has several isotopes. Natural uranium consists mostly of uranium-238, a nonfissionable isotope. The fissionable isotope uranium-235, which occurs to the extent of only seven-tenths of 1 percent, is the valuable substance that causes the chain reactions with neutrons. Methods that separate isotopes by virtue of their different masses are used to eliminate the unwanted isotopes in the naturally occurring mixture of uranium ores and thus enrich natural uranium with respect to uranium-235. Such enriched uranium was used in the first atomic bomb exploded over Japan.

      Two other fissionable actinide isotopes are important. The first is plutonium-239, which may be prepared by neutron bombardment of uranium-238 and thus is formed as a by-product in uranium piles in which uranium-238 is exposed to neutrons; it can be used in place of uranium-235 in atomic weapons or in reactions. The second is potentially even more important, because it is produced from the element thorium, of which there are enormous reserves on Earth. When the isotope thorium-232 is bombarded by neutrons, one of which it captures, it is converted to thorium-233. This substance decays by beta emission to protactinium-233, which again emits a beta particle to give uranium-233, also a fissionable isotope of uranium. Since uranium is a relatively scarce element, development of nuclear power on a large scale is expected to deplete rapidly the uranium that can be produced economically. The use of thorium thus could extend the supplies of fissionable material by about threefold, and the use of plutonium as well could more than double them. Breeder power reactors are designed so that very few neutrons are lost through the surface or from absorption by impurities, and more fissionable material (either uranium-233 or plutonium-239) is produced than is consumed. Should such breeder reactors be made practicable, never-ending supplies of fissionable isotopes would be available.

      Although no other fissionable isotopes of the actinides occur in significant amounts, there are practical uses of the nonfissionable isotopes owing to the amounts of heat they produce by nuclear decay. For special power sources that require great dependability, thermoelectric generators (thermoelectric power generator) using these isotopes can be considered. Alpha-emitting isotopes with radioactive half-lives in the range of several months to 100 years or more are suitable candidates. (Beta- or gamma-emitting isotopes require too much shielding to be usable.) Curium-244, which has a half-life of 18.1 years, produces 2.83 watts of heat per gram. Plutonium-238 produces 0.57 watt per gram and has the much longer half-life of 87.74 years. Such power sources have been planted on the Moon to provide electrical energy for transmitting messages back to Earth. Plutonium-238 also is being considered for use as a power source for artificial hearts. A thermoelectric power generator fueled by this radioisotope already has been implanted in the human body to power a heart pacemaker, which is not expected to need replacement for at least 10 years.

Larned B. Asprey Ed.

Additional Reading

Overviews are found in Glenn T. Seaborg and Joseph J. Katz (eds.), The Actinide Elements (1954), individual papers by the original scientists on work done during World War II; K.W. Bagnall, The Actinide Elements (1972); and F.L. Oetting, M.H. Rand, and R.J. Ackermann, The Actinide Elements (1976). More specific studies include Joseph J. Katz, Glenn T. Seaborg, and Lester R. Morss (eds.), The Chemistry of the Actinide Elements, 2nd ed. (1986); Arthur J. Freeman and J.B. Darby, Jr. (eds.), The Actinides: Electronic Structure and Related Properties, 2 vol. (1974); Norman M. Edelstein (ed.), Actinides in Perspective (1982), conference proceedings, and Lanthanide and Actinide Chemistry and Spectroscopy (1980); J. Fuger et al., The Actinide Aqueous Inorganic Complexes (1992); D.L. Hildenbrand, L.V. Gurvich, and V.S. Yungman (eds.), The Gaseous Actinide Ions (1985); James D. Navratil and Wallace W. Schulz (eds.), Actinide Separations (1980); and Norman M. Edelstein, James D. Navratil, and Wallace W. Schulz (eds.), Americium and Curium Chemistry and Technology (1985).Larned B. Asprey Ed.

* * *