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An experimental study has been made on the oxidation of two thorium nitrides ThN and Th3N4, in oxygen under a pressure of 1/5 atm. The Th3N4 was prepared by reacting thorium hydride with N2 gas, and the ThN by decomposing Th3N4 in vacuo. The thorium nitrides were idenfied by X-ray powder diffractometry. The values of N/Th ratio were determined by chemical analysis to be 0.90–0.92 for ThN and 1.22 for Th3N4. Powder specimens of both thorium nitrides were isothermally oxidized in the temperature range of 340°–480°C. The oxidation behavior of ThN powder was found to be independent of oxygen pressure (1/5–1 atm). The reaction kinetics of both thorium nitrides were found amenable to representation by linear plots for the most part of the reaction. The apparent activation energies were 18±3 kcal/mole for ThN and 15±2 kcal/mole for Th3N4. X-ray examination revealed the oxidation product of both nitrides to be solely ThO2, and no other product was detected.
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Ozaki et al. (1971) studied this question.
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