One reason for the scarcity of data on dicarbide is their extreme reactivity in the presence of moisture. Dicarbide of thorium, other actinides, and certain lanthanides are of potential interest in reactor applications. In particular, knowledge of the properties of ThC2 would be valuable in understanding the chemical processes taking place in a hightemperature power reactor incorporating ThC2 as the fertile material in anTh-U233 conversion processnCare was taken to prepare the highest-purity material possible so that effects of impurities such as O2 could be assessed by comparison with preparations made by other methods. The samples were prepared with a slight deficiency of C to assure single-phase, carbon-free material. It is hoped that a careful determination will allow useful heat capacity estimates to be made in other systems - in particular, systems that are too radioactive for ordinary handling methods
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