Preparation of Uranium Carbonitride by Reaction of UC with Ammonia

With the view to establishing a method of directly converting uranium carbide into uranium carbonitride and hydrocarbons, an attempt has been made to induce reaction between UC and ammonia under various temperatures from 25° to 600°C and pressures from 1 to 1,500 kg/cm². The reaction aimed at was realized to the extent of practical significance under pressures exceeding 500 kg/cm² at 450°C and exceeding 250 kg/cm² at 500°C. The hydrocarbons produced thereby were found to be mainly methane, indicating that the formula of the predominant reaction was

• UC+NH₃→UN_2-x+ CH₄+H₂.

Upon heating the powdery fine black product to 1,800°C in vacuo, unexpectedly marked sintering was found to occur, resulting in dense uranium monocarbonitride without any compaction pretreatment.