DOE OSTI2020
PuBi3 crystallizes in the tetragonal I4/mmm space group. The structure is three-dimensional. Pu is bonded to twelve Bi atoms to form PuBi12 cuboctahedra that share corners with four equivalent PuBi12 cuboctahedra, edges with eight equivalent PuBi12 cuboctahedra, edges with sixteen equivalent BiPu4Bi8 cuboctahedra, faces with four equivalent PuBi12 cuboctahedra, and faces with eight equivalent BiPu4Bi8 cuboctahedra. There are four shorter (3.26 Å) and eight longer (3.59 Å) Pu–Bi bond lengths. There are two inequivalent Bi sites. In the first Bi site, Bi is bonded to four equivalent Pu and eight Bi atoms to form distorted BiPu4Bi8 cuboctahedra that share corners with twelve equivalent BiPu4Bi8 cuboctahedra, edges with eight equivalent PuBi12 cuboctahedra, edges with eight equivalent BiPu4Bi8 cuboctahedra, faces with four equivalent PuBi12 cuboctahedra, and faces with ten equivalent BiPu4Bi8 cuboctahedra. There are four shorter (3.26 Å) and four longer (3.59 Å) Bi–Bi bond lengths. In the second Bi site, Bi is bonded in a square co-planar geometry to four equivalent Pu and eight equivalent Bi atoms.