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Updated: Nov 27, 2025

From Molecules to Materials: Engineering New Ionic Liquid Crystals Through Halogen Bonding

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Published on: March 24, 2018

Covalency in Actinide Compounds.

Kristen A Pace¹, Vladislav V Klepov¹, Anna A Berseneva¹

¹Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of South Carolina, 631 Sumter St., Columbia, SC, 29208, USA.

Chemistry (Weinheim an Der Bergstrasse, Germany)

|December 7, 2020

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

Understanding covalency in actinides is key for nuclear fuel reprocessing. Actinides exhibit significant 5f orbital overlap, unlike lanthanides, enabling distinct bonding properties crucial for separation technologies.

Keywords:

actinides complexes covalency extended structures

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Area of Science:

Nuclear Chemistry
Materials Science
Quantum Chemistry

Background:

Covalency in actinides is critical for nuclear fuel reprocessing and separation of minor actinides from lanthanides.
Actinides possess extended 5f orbitals that participate in bonding, unlike the localized 4f orbitals in lanthanides.
Distinct bonding properties of actinides offer potential solutions for challenges in nuclear waste management.

Purpose of the Study:

To provide a general description of covalency in actinide compounds.
To explore strategies for enhancing covalency in actinides.
To illustrate the current state of research with recent examples.

Main Methods:

Conceptual analysis of electronic structure and bonding in actinides.
Review of recent literature on actinide compound covalency.
Proposal of actinide chalcogenides as a model system.

Main Results:

Actinides exhibit significant 5f orbital overlap with ligands, contributing to covalency.
Two primary approaches to enhance actinide covalency are identified: increasing orbital overlap and decreasing orbital energy differences.
Recent studies demonstrate the application of these principles in various actinide compounds.

Conclusions:

Covalency in actinides is a tunable property that can be exploited for technological applications.
Actinide chalcogenides offer a promising avenue for further investigation into actinide covalency.
Further research into actinide bonding is essential for advancing nuclear fuel cycle technologies.