Condensed-matter Chemistry in Actinides

Actinide elements are relatively “new” elements in the history of construction of the periodic table, with only seven decades since their discovery. Recently, not only the research area of nuclear power industry, but also the nuclear medicine utilizing radioactive properties of actinides elements has been rising more attention. Also, they have been intensively studied from pure scientific interest, because of rich and exotic physical and chemical properties of actinide materials originating from complicated 5f electronic properties.

We explore different actinide materials by synthesizing new materials and elucidating their physical and chemical properties from a point of view of microscopic electronic properties. For example, we aim to contribute to developments of safe methods for final storage of high-level radioactive wastes, nuclear medicine for cancer treatment, more effective method for production of nuclear fuel. Our study is based on synthesis of complex, intermetallics, and oxides, crystal structure analysis, and physical property measurements. We also utilize microscopic techniques such as NMR, neutron scattering, and synchrotron X-ray experiments.