Thermochemistry of selected lanthanide and actinide hydroxycarbonates and carbonates

Lanthanide and actinide carbonates and hydroxycarbonates are, together with the hydroxides, important compounds in the problematics of high level waste disposal, since such and related compounds may appear as solid phases as a result of the interaction of the waste with natural waters. Experimental results on the stability and relationships between these compounds, particularly the hydroxycarbonates, are relatively fragmentary and arise mainly from solubility measurements, and, to a lesser extent, from enthalpy of formation determinations. We report here the enthalpies of formation of a number of well characterized hydroxycarbonates of trivalent lanthanides, namely those of neodymium, samarium, dysprosium, ytterbium, and of americium, as well as that of neodymium sesquicarbonate, using solution calorimetry in acidic media. The obtained values are discussed in the light of literature data on existing solubility and enthalpy of formation of related compounds. Our results have been obtained with a newly conceived sealed calorimeter, briefly described in the paper, in which the CO2 produced during the dissolution reaction is maintained in solution, thus eliminating the problem of the kinetically slow evolution of the CO2(g) from the medium and the irregularities in the associated thermal effect. (orig.)