Electron Affinity of UF <sub>6</sub>
We report an anion photoelectron spectroscopic study of the photodetachment of uranium hexafluoride anion (UF 6 – ) to neutral UF 6, the primary species involved in uranium isotopic enrichment. The adiabatic electron affinity (AEA) of UF 6 and the vertical detachment energy (VDE) of UF 6 –, both predicted using high-level relativistic coupled-cluster calculations, provided unequivocal support for the assignment of the observed spectral features in the anion photoelectron spectrum of UF 6 – . The experimental AEA value of UF 6 and the VDE value of UF 6 – were determined to be 5.05 ± 0.10 eV and 5.66 ± 0.10 eV, respectively. This work provides the first direct, spectroscopic determination of the electron affinity of UF 6 .
Authors
- S. Y. Wang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0007-6318-8580)
- Lan Cheng (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1165-9559)
- Kit H. Bowen (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2858-6352)
- Burak A. Tufekci (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6964-6630)
Institutions
- Johns Hopkins University (US)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Journal of the American Chemical Society
- Published
- 2026-06-30
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1021/jacs.6c08451
- Primary Topic
- Nuclear Materials and Properties
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00