Cerium chloride – methanol adduct crystals, CeCl3(CH3OH)4: preparation, crystallography, and scintillation properties

Abstract

A new methanol adduct of cerium trichloride of composition CeCl3(CH3OH)4 was crystallized from solution growth in methanol. Large single crystals (> several cubic cm) have been grown in controlled temperature baths. The molecular adduct of composition Ce2Cl6(CH3OH)8 is determined from X-ray crystal structure analysis, and this molecule undoubtedly persists in solution as well. Motivations for studying these compounds are their promising unique scintillation properties for radiation detection applications and the model structural systems they provide for the realization of new low-dimensional quantum magnets. This material apparently represents the first example of a metal-organic scintillator that is applicable to X-ray, gamma-ray, and neutron detection.