X-ray powder diffraction studies of a new compound: Th13Te24O74

The compound Th 13 Te 24 O 74 was prepared by three independent methods, namely, thermal decomposition of ThTe 2 O 6 in oxygen and argon and direct solid-state reaction of ThO 2 and TeO 2 . The X-ray powder diffraction patterns of the three products, by and large, are similar, except for some differences in intensities and extra diffraction lines. The thermal decomposition of ThTe 2 O 6 was carried out in the streams of oxygen and argon by thermogravimetry at a heating rate of 5 K/min in the temperature range of 725–840 °C. The solid-state reaction of ThO 2 and TeO 2 (13:24) was carried out in a sealed ampoule at 700 °C. The measured density of this compound is 8.23 g/cm 3 . An orthorhombic lattice with unit cell parameters, a=11.310±0.005 Å, b=14.064±0.006 Å, c=9.056±0.004 Å, and volume of 1440.419±1.088 (Å) 3 was determined for this compound.