Decomposition thermique et etude vibrationnelle de NiNa4(P3O9)2·6H2O

We have studied the dehydration and the calcination under atmospheric pressure of cyclotriphosphate tetrahydrate of nickel and sodium, NiNa₄(P₃O₉)₂·6H₂O, between 25 and 700°C by thermal analyses (TG, DTA) infrared spectrometry and X-ray diffraction. This study allows us the identification and the crystallographic characterization of a new phase, NiNa₄(PO₃)6, obtained between 350 and 450°C. NiNa₄(PO₃)₆ crystallizes in the triclinic system, P_–1, with the following unit cell parameters a=6.157(3) Å, b=6.820(6) Å, c=10.918(6) Å, =80.21(5)°, =97.80(9)°, =113.49(3)°, V=409.8 ų, Z=1, M(19)=25 and F(19)=48 (0.0095; 42). The calcination of NiNa₄(PO₃)₆, between 500 and 600°C, leads to a mixture of long-chain polyphosphates NiNa(PO₃)₃ and NaPO₃. The kinetic characteristics of the dehydration of NiNa₄(P₃O₉)₂·6H₂O were determined and discussed. The vibrational spectrum of the title compound, NiNa₄(P₃O₉)2·6H₂O, was interpreted in the domain of the stretching vibrations of the P₃O₉ rings, on the basis of its crystalline structure and in the light of the calculation of the normal IR frequencies of the P₃O₉ ring with D_3h symmetry.

This revised version was published online in November 2005 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Infrared spectroscopy of single-walled carbon nanotubes

By using the spectral moments method, we calculate the infrared spectra of chiral and achiral single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) of different diameters and lengths. We show that the number of the infrared modes, their frequencies, and intensities depend on the length and chirality of the nanotubes. Furthermore, the dependence of the infrared spectrum as a function of the size of the SWCNT bundle is analyzed. These predictions are useful to interpret the experimental infrared spectra of SWCNTs.