Chemical effects of 6Li(n,α)T reaction in tris(oxalato)tin complex mixed with Li2CO3

The chemical effects of neutron irradiation in [(CH3)4N]2Sn(C2O4)3 and samples mixed with Li2CO3 were studied by means of Moessbauer spectroscopy. A new doublet ascribed to Sn(II) species was observed in the Moessbauer spectra both of the neutron-irradiated [(CH3)4N]2Sn(C2O4)3 and of that mixed with Li2CO3. The areal intensity of the Sn(II) species in the spectrum of the neutron-irradiated [(CH3)4N]2Sn(C2O4)3 is greater than that of Sn(IV) species while the opposite result is found in the spectrum of the neutron-irradiated mixture. The results can be explained by assuming that the Sn(IV) species observed in the neutron-irradiated [(CH3)4N]2Sn(C2O4)3 mixed with Li2CO3 was produced by the reoxidation of the unstable Sn(II) species produced by radiolysis of Li2CO3 after the 6Li(n,α)T reaction. (author)