Transition and rare earth metal fluorides as thermal sources of atomic andmolecular fluorine

Transition and rare earth metal fluorides (CoF3, K2NiF6, TbF4 and CeF4) art , widely used as solid fluorinating agents. Their thermal decomposition lea ds to the release of gaseous fluorine. Knudsen cell mass spectrometry has b een applied to investigate thermal decomposition of aforementioned fluorina ting agents. The characteristic working interval of temperatures and compos ition of the gas phase for each compound have been determined. According to our findings, fluorine is released both in atomic and molecular forms. F i s the main component of the gas phase during TbF4 and K2NiF6 decomposition, which can be used as thermal generators of atomic fluorine.