A neutron diffraction investigation of powdered lead nitrate at temperatures up to 300 ° C. has been undertaken to determine whether there is any significant rotation of the nitrate group about its symmetry axis. If a cosine-like potential is assumed, the potential barrier for hindered rotation is at least Vo > 16kT. Revised parameters for the room-temperature data lead to an N-O bond length of 1-267 A (o = 0-021 A), a va]ue somewhat greater than that previously reported for the compound. I t is suggested that disorder or dislocation phenomena can account for the somewhat irreversible changes in the intensities of the most intense reflections which occur on heating or vigorous grinding of the sample.
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Walter C. Hamilton (1957) studied this question.