Effect of chemical structure on the radioactive decay rate of 71Ge

The influence of the chemical structure on the electron capture radioactive decay rate of 71Ge was observed. 71 Ge nuclei in bivalent sulphide GeS decay faster than in quadrivalent sulphide GeS2. The relative change Δlambda/lambda of the decay constant lambda is + (11.4 +- 1.7) X 10-4. A possibility to use the experimental values of Δlambda/lambda to determine the chemical changes in the electron density at germanium nuclei in germanium chemical compounds is discussed. Quantitative determination of the changes in the electron density is complicated because of insufficient reliability of the published values of exchange and overlap corrections to the electron capture probabilities. (Auth.)