Chemical Property of Plutonium
Edit
Chemical Property:
- Melting Point:640 ±2°
- Boiling Point:3228°C (estimate)
- PSA：0.00000
- Density:d21 19.86; d190 17.70; d235 17.14; d320 15.92; d405 16.00; d490 16.51
- LogP:0.00000
- Hydrogen Bond Donor Count:0
- Hydrogen Bond Acceptor Count:0
- Rotatable Bond Count:0
- Exact Mass:244.06420
- Heavy Atom Count:1
- Complexity:0
- Purity/Quality:
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99%, *data from raw suppliers
PLUTONIUM 95.00% *data from reagent suppliers
Safty Information:
- Pictogram(s):
- Hazard Codes:
- MSDS Files:
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SDS file from LookChem
Useful:
- Chemical Classes:Physical/Radiation -> Radionuclides
- Canonical SMILES:[Pu]
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Uses
Plutonium is the second transuranium element after neptunium. The element was named after the planet Pluto.
Plutonium is the most important transuranium element. Its two isotopes Pu-238 and Pu-239 have the widest applications among all plutonium isotopes. Plutonium-239 is the fuel for nuclear weapons. The detonation power of 1 kg of plutonium-239 is about 20,000 tons of chemical explosive. The critical mass for its fission is only a few pounds for a solid block depending on the shape of the mass and its proximity to neutron absorbing or reflecting substances. This critical mass is much lower for plutonium in aqueous solution. Also, it is used in nuclear power reactors to generate electricity. The energy output of 1 kg of plutonium is about 22 million kilowatt hours. Plutonium-238 has been used to generate power to run seismic and other lunar surface equipment. It also is used in radionuclide batteries for pacemakers and in various thermoelectric devices. The principal plutonium isotopes, 239Pu and 240Pu, were
produced as ingredients for nuclear weapons. It is estimated
that the United States produced 400 kCi of plutonium for
nuclear weapons testing, and approximately 325 kCi was
dispersed globally into the environment from conducted
aboveground tests. Overall, an estimated 500 aboveground
nuclear tests were conducted between 1945 and 1963 by the
Soviet Union, Britain, France, and the United States. From these
tests, it is estimated 100 000 kCi of plutonium were dispersed
into the environment.Applications for 238Pu include using it as a heat source for
thermoelectric power devices. Radioisotope thermoelectric
generators (RTGs) have been used to provide a source of power
in remote locations, such as deep space probes. This plutonium
isotope generates a large amount of heat through its decay
process. The generated heat is converted into electric power via
a thermocouple in the RTG. Small-scale application of 238Pu is
also used to provide power to heart pacemakers. The concept behind the use of this material is a result of the half-life of the
isotope, since its half-life is extremely long, changing out the
power source is not necessary.
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Description
Plutonium was first isolated and produced in 1941 at the
University of California-Berkeley, by nuclear chemist Glenn T.
Seaborg and his colleagues, Joseph W. Kennedy, Edwin M.
McMillan, and Arthur C. Wahl. Minute amounts of plutonium
exist naturally, but large amounts are produced in nuclear
reactors when uranium absorbs an atomic particle such as a
neutron.
Natural occurrences of plutonium are very rare, but it can
occur in a reaction called spontaneous fission. This type of
reaction occurs when ores of uranium with a high localized
concentration decay in the right conditions and produce small
amounts of plutonium. Synthetic plutonium is produced in
a controlled nuclear reactor when uranium-238 absorbs
a neutron and becomes uranium-239, ultimately decaying to
plutonium-239. Plutonium has at least 15 different isotopes.
Different isotopes of uranium and different combinations of
neutron absorption and radioactive decay create the different
isotopes of plutonium. Plutonium was discovered during
wartime; therefore, the majority of plutonium production was
for nuclear weapons. Other plutonium applications range from
being energy sources on deep space probes to small amounts
providing power to heart pacemakers.
