A Relativistic Density Functional Study on the Uranium Hexafluoride and Plutonium Hexafluoride Monomer and Dimer Species

Abstract

A study on the UF6 monomer and dimer was carried out within the density functional method. The U-F distance in the UF6 monomer was optimized at different levels of theory, pointwise, assuming octahedral geometry, (1) by using an all-electron basis for both U and F in a nonrelativistic calculation; (2) by using a relativistic effective core potential (RECP) on U and nonrelativistic effective core potential (ECP) on the fluorines; and (3) by using RECP on the U atom and an all-electron basis on the F atoms. Atomization energies of 23.11, 33.92, and 35.66 eV were obtained at the three levels, respectively. Relativistic effects lead to about a 50% increase in the atomization energy. For the UF6 dimer, the potential energy curve, as a function of the intermolecular U-U distance, was computed at level 2, and the rotational barrier between the two monomers was determined. Similar calculations were performed on the corresponding PuF6 species. Comparisons are made with experiment and other theoretical studies, where available.