Chemical consequences of thermal annealing in neutron activated thioantimony compounds

Abstract Thermal annealing patterns of some neutron irradiated thioantimony compounds suggest that the trapping of metastable species is determined in part by the matrix of the compound, that the stabilization of the higher oxidation state is related to the sulphur atom content and the covalent character of the SbS bond. Internal conversion accounts for the primary oxidation of the recoil atoms.