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Updated: Jun 3, 2026

Speciation and Bioavailability Measurements of Environmental Plutonium Using Diffusion in Thin Films
Published on: November 9, 2015
Alpha-plutonium's Grüneisen parameter
Hassel Ledbetter1, Andrew Lawson, Albert Migliori
1Mechanical Engineering, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO 80309, USA. Hassel.Ledbetter@colorado.edu
Abstract:
Reported Grüneisen parameters γ of alpha-plutonium range from 3.0 to 9.6, which is remarkable because typical Grüneisen parameter uncertainty seldom exceeds ± 0.5. Our six new estimates obtained by different methods range from 3.2 to 9.6. The new estimates arise from Grüneisen's rule, from Einstein model and Debye model fits to low-temperature ΔV/V, from the bulk modulus temperature dependence, from the zero-point-energy contribution to the bulk modulus, and from another Grüneisen relationship whereby γ is estimated from only the bulk modulus and volume changes with temperature (or pressure). We disregard several high estimates because of the itinerant-localized 5f-electron changes during temperature changes and pressure changes. Considering all these estimates, for alpha-plutonium, we recommend γ = 3.7 ± 0.4, slightly high compared with values for all elemental metals.
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