Synthesis and study of binary compounds of actinides and lanthanides. XXIII. Effect of self-irradiation on the crystal structure of intermetallic compounds of Cm-244

The effect of self-irradiation on the crystal structure of compounds of Cm- 244 with Pt, Ir, Rh, Pd, Ni, Al, and Si was studied by X-ray diffraction. T he intense a-decay of 244Cm causes increase in the crystal lattice paramete rs and unit cell volume with subsequent disappearance of the reflections of the crystal lattice of the intermetallic compounds. The lattices of the in termetallic compounds Pt5Cm, Ir2Cm, Rh2Cm, Ni15Cm2, Ni5Cm, SiCm, Si3Cm2, Si 2Cm, and Si1.88Cm become completely X-ray amorphous at room temperature in 5-10 days. The amorphization of the Al2Cm lattice starts in 15 days, and it s maximal volume expansion after exposure for 4 days is 3.5+/-0.5%. The cub ic lattice of Pd3Cm does not become amorphous even after exposure for 200 d ays. The factors affecting kinetics of self-irradiation of curium intermeta llic compounds are analyzed.