Thermal Decompositon Studies Of Pre-Irradiated Nickel (II) Azides

Abstract

The effect of pre-irradiation on the thermal decomposition of three samples of nickel (II) azide was studied. It was found that the rates of thermal decomposition of Ni(OH)N₃ increased substantially with increase in pre-irradiation dosage. The initial reaction rates change from time-dependant nucleation law for the unirradiated sample to a unimolecular decay law for the sample irradiated with heavy dosage. The activation energy of pre-irradiated Ni(OH)N₃ increased to 117KJ mole^-1 from 106.2KJ mole^-1 for the unirradiated sample. Ni(N₃)₂ and aged Ni(OH)N₃ are, however, not seriously affected even at high dosages of 24Mrad of γ–radiation. Their reaction kinetics follow the unimolecular rate law just like those of unirradiated samples. Only the irradiation of Ni(OH)N₃ causes significant radiation damage. This work has shown that Ni(OH)N₃, if carefully treated with calculated dosages of γ–radiation, could generate nickel azides of varying degree of stability for safe handling in various applications.

KEY WORDS: Pre-irradiation, γ-rays, azides, dislocations, radiation damage, thermal decomposition.

Global Journal of Pure and Applied Sciences Vol.11(1) 2005: 89-97