Tritium Fluoride
Tritium fluoride is an inorganic compound with chemical formula TF. It is the tritiated analog of hydrogen fluoride; as an isotopologue, it is expected to share essentially all chemical properties, with the addition of various radiochemical reactions due to its beta decay. These betas range in energy from zero to 18592.01(7) eV [1], with an average energy of 5681.7(1.2) eV[2][3].
Production
Formation of tritium fluoride requires the presence of tritium and a source of fluorine. Fluorine is a building block in materials like polytetrafluoroethylene, where it stabilizes the molecule because of the strong bonds – in chemical terms – between carbon and fluorine. These have an energy per bond of 5.637 eV[4]. However, the average beta energy is 5681.7 eV, which allows these energetic electrons to break the eV-level chemical bonds within PTFE or any fluorine compound.
The formation of TF has been observed in long-term exposure of fluorine-containing polymers to tritium gas[5]. This study documents the production of 13 mg of TF.
Chemistry
It is unknown whether any larger quantity than in[6] has ever been measured, or even whether TF has been produced deliberately for chemical study.
Health effects
Tritium fluoride is likely to be highly corrosive and a powerful contact poison, like HF. Exposure would therefore require immediate medical attention.[7]
Because of the radioactive nature of tritium, TF is expected to present similar hazards to other tritium exposures.[8]
References
- ↑ Myers, E. G.; Wagner, A.; Kracke, H.; Wesson, B. A. (7 January 2015). "Atomic Masses of Tritium and Helium-3". Physical Review Letters. 114 (1): 013003. doi:10.1103/PhysRevLett.114.013003.
- ↑ Mougeot, X. (18 May 2015). "Reliability of usual assumptions in the calculation of $\ensuremath{\beta}$ and $\ensuremath{\nu}$ spectra". Physical Review C. 91 (5): 055504. doi:10.1103/PhysRevC.91.055504.
- ↑ "Beta minus spectra".
- ↑ Lemal, David M. (1 January 2004). "Perspective on Fluorocarbon Chemistry". The Journal of Organic Chemistry. 69 (1): 1–11. doi:10.1021/jo0302556.
- ↑ Clark, E.; Kirk Shanahan, K. (31 May 2006). "EFFECTS OF TRITIUM EXPOSURE ON UHMW-PE, PTFE, AND VESPEL". doi:10.2172/891658.
- ↑ Clark, E.; Kirk Shanahan, K. (31 May 2006). "EFFECTS OF TRITIUM EXPOSURE ON UHMW-PE, PTFE, AND VESPEL". doi:10.2172/891658.
- ↑ Facts About Hydrogen Fluoride (Hydrofluoric Acid)
- ↑ US EPA, OAR (15 April 2015). "Radionuclide Basics: Tritium". www.epa.gov.
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