Infrared Absorption Spectra, X-rays Diffraction Studies and Thermal Behavior of Cerium and Thorium Laurate

IR, X-ray diffraction and thermal analysis were used to illustrate the structure of cerium and thorium laurate in solid state. IR results reveal that the fatty acid exists with dimeric structure through intermolecular hydrogen bonding and cerium and thorium laurate were ionic in nature. The X-Ray diffraction measurements confirm that these soaps posses double layer structure with long spacing. Decomposition reaction was found kinetically of zero order with energy of activation for cerium laurate lies in the range 26.92-37.62 KJ mol -1 and for thermal decomposition lies in the range 33.34-42.63KJ mol -1 .