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Academic Lectures
NSE Seminar, David Clark, Los Alamos, Wed. 1/21, 4 pm HH 202
Department / Organization: Nuclear Science and Engineering
Applications of ligand K-edge XAS to study covalency of 5f and 6d orbitals in actinide metal-ligand bonding
Nuclear Science and Engineering Seminar Wednesday January 21, 2026 4:00 pm Hill Hall 202
Applications of Ligand K-edge XAS to Study Covalency and the Relative Roles of 5f and 6d Orbitals in Actinide Metal-Ligand Bonding
David L. Clark Laboratory Fellow, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos NM 87544
The presence of covalency in complexes of the 4f and 5f elements has been a source of intense research and debate. I will discuss applications of ligand K-edge XAS and relativistic electronic structure calculations for evaluating the relative roles of valence 5f and 6d orbitals in chemical bonding for a series of actinide (An) molecular complexes. These comparative studies demonstrate the presence of covalent interactions between both ligand p and actinide (An) 5f and 6d orbitals, with the relative contributions changing with Zeff and orbital energetic across the actinide series.
I will also discuss historical developments from the Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Lightsource (SSRL) that established some of the first beamlines to study of highly radioactive materials at synchrotron facilities.
