Inorganic Chemistry of F-Elements in Oxo-Systems: from Normal to Extreme Conditions

Actinide elements show a great diversity in their chemistry due to the complex structure of 5f electron shells and delocalization of 5f-electrons within the early actinide family. One of the most remarkable properties of the early actinides is a multi-valence accompanied by a great coordination diversity. For example, uranium demonstrates oxidation states from +2 to +6 in the solid state, where +4 and +6 are the most common and stable. In this talk, some aspects of early actinides chemistry in oxo-systems under normal and extreme conditions (high pressure and temperature) will be presented. Stabilization of rare U(V) with aliovalent substitution will be discussed. The influence of the pressure and temperature on An-bearing phase formation and their structures will be demonstrated on examples of Th and U complex oxo-phases. The cases of U/Th-borates, molybdates, sulfates and exotic oxides will be presented. An effect of physical pressure on behaviour of uranyl group (almost linear at normal conditions) in inorganic systems will be discussed.  

Evgeny V. Alekseev, PhD, is a Senior Researcher/Group Leader at Institute of Energy and Climate Research (IEK-9), Forschungszentrum Jülich (National Lab), Germany. He received his MSc degree in Chemistry from the Lobachevsky State University, Nizhny Novgorod, Russia and his PhD in Solid State Chemistry and Crystallography of inorganic uranium compounds from the same institution. After graduation, he worked as DAAD Postdoc at University of Kiel, Germany and as a visiting researcher at EFRC, University of Notre Dame, USA. Since 2011 he is working as a researcher at Forschungszentrum Jülich and an invited lecturer (non-tenure track Junior Professor) at RWTH Aachen University, Germany. His  research work focuses on energy related materials, including nuclear materials, chemistry of  actinides, materials for the state of the art energy storage (all solid state batteries), as well materials synthesis and their behavior under extreme conditions of pressure and temperatures.