Be2+ Hydration in Concentrated Aqueous Solutions of BeCl2

Neutron diffraction experiments were carried out on concentrated aqueous solutions of beryllium chloride at three concentrations:  1.5, 3, and 6 molal. By working with a specific (“null”) mixture of heavy water (D2O) and water (H2O), information on the local structure around Be2+ ions was extracted...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The journal of physical chemistry. B 2008-02, Vol.112 (7), p.1935-1939
Main Authors: Mason, Philip E., Ansell, Stuart, Neilson, George W., Brady, John W.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Beryllium - chemistry
Deuterium Oxide
Ions - chemistry
Neutron Diffraction
Solutions
Water - chemistry
Online Access:Get full text
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Summary:Neutron diffraction experiments were carried out on concentrated aqueous solutions of beryllium chloride at three concentrations:  1.5, 3, and 6 molal. By working with a specific (“null”) mixture of heavy water (D2O) and water (H2O), information on the local structure around Be2+ ions was extracted directly. For all three BeCl2 solutions, the results show that the Be2+ ion has a well-defined 4-fold coordination shell that is dominated by oxygen atoms. There is also a relatively small probability (10−15%) that there are direct contacts between Be2+ and Cl- at a distance of ∼2.2 Å. The oxygen atoms of the highly structured Be2+ first hydration shell are found to be situated at 2.6 Å apart, and form a pyramidal structure, in agreement with recent MD simulation results. The Cl- ions have approximately seven oxygen atoms (water molecules) in their hydration shells sited at 3.2 Å.
ISSN:1520-6106
1520-5207
DOI:10.1021/jp710180v