Détermination des interactions microscopiques entre les actinides et les substances humiques présentes dans l’environnementUne quantité pondérable de plutonium a été introduite dans l’environnement lors d’essais nucléaires ou d’accidents civils. Les zones contaminées, nécessitant une surveillance particulière, sont devenues des lieux d’études très intéressants pour comprendre le comportement du plutonium dans l’environnement. Jusqu’à peu de temps encore, il était admis que le plutonium introduit dans les sols était relativement immobile en raison de sa propension à se sorber fortement sur les roches et de sa faible solubilité dans l’eau. Cependant, des études menées sur des zones contaminées montrent que les substances humiques, omniprésentes dans l’environnement, peuvent influencer la spéciation d’un métal et donc sa migration. C’est pourquoi, il est indispensable de connaître l’influence des substances humiques sur la spéciation du plutonium pour comprendre le transport de celui-ci dans un milieu naturel. Toutefois, en raison de la nature complexe et hétérogène de la matière organique naturelle, il est difficile de décrire de façon microscopique les interactions entre substances humiques et le plutonium. En effet, les substances humiques forment un mélange hétérogène de supra-molécules polydispersées produites par des réactions chimiques ou biochimiques durant la transformation naturelle de matière organique animale, végétale ou microbienne.Le but de ces travaux est d’évaluer à l’échelle de moléculaire les phénomènes de complexation des actinides par la matière organique naturelle. Ces recherches s’organisent autour de deux axes : la caractérisation de dizaines de milliers de molécules dans chaque échantillon de substances humiques naturelles et la détermination des molécules responsables de la vectorisation des actinides dans l’environnement.La mise au point d'une méthodologie a permis de mettre en évidence, pour la première fois, quelques molécules responsables de la complexation des actinides dans des échantillons de matière organique naturelle. Les résultats obtenus montrent l’influence de l’origine du prélèvement de la matière organique sur le type de molécules complexantes. Cette étude montre, également, que la vectorisation des actinides par la matière organique résulte d’une interaction avec un ensemble de molécules présentant des affinités plus ou moins forte pour le métal. Ces résultats semblent être en accord avec les modélisations macroscopiques NICA-DONNAN (approches continue) utilisés actuellement. / Large amount of plutonium has been introduced into the environment as a result of nuclear weapons testing, and nuclear power-plant accidents. Contaminated areas, which need a particular survey, have become a very interesting place to study and understand the plutonium behaviour in the environment. Until few years ago, it was admitted that plutonium introduced into subsurface environment is relatively immobile, owing to its low solubility in ground water and strong sorption onto rocks. However, studies of contaminated areas show that humic substances, which are ubiquitous in environment, can alter the speciation of metal ion, e.g. plutonium, and thus their migration. These humic substances are major components of the natural organic matter in soil and water as well as in geological organic deposits such as lake sediments, peats and brown coals. They are complex heterogeneous mixtures of polydispersed supra-molecules formed by biochemical and chemical reactions during the decay and transformation of plant and microbial remains. The knowledge of the impact of humic substances on the plutonium migration is required to assess their transport in natural systems. However, due to the complex and heterogeneous nature of humic substances, there are a lot of difficulties in the description of microscopic interactions. The aim of this PhD thesis is to evaluate as precisely as possible interactions between actinides and humic substances. This work is divided in two parts: on the one hand humic substances will be separated to identify each component, on the other hand the speciation of actinides with characterized humic substances will be studied. In the first part of this study, new methods are developed to study the speciation of actinides with humic substances using two kinds of mass spectrometers: an ICP-MS and a high resolution mass spectrometer using various ionization devices (ESI, APCI, DART, APPI) in order to determine all active molecules for the complexation.In the second part, a new way of humic substances separation had been developed using an electrophoresis capillary apparatus. This efficient separation technique allows to simplify the characterisation of the complex heterogeneous mixtures without changing speciation of the chemical system.This study will lead to point out some molecules responsible for complexation of actinides by the humic substances.

Quantum dots (QDs) are common as luminescing markers for imaging in biological applications because their optical properties seem to be inert against their surrounding solvent. This, together with broad and strong absorption bands and intense, sharp tuneable luminescence bands, makes them interesting candidates for methods utilizing Förster Resonance Energy Transfer (FRET), e. g. for sensitive homogeneous fluoroimmunoassays (FIA). In this work we demonstrate energy transfer from Eu<SUP>3+</SUP>-trisbipyridin (Eu-TBP) donors to CdSe-ZnS-QD acceptors in solutions with and without serum. The QDs are commercially available CdSe-ZnS core-shell particles emitting at 655 nm (QD655). The FRET system was achieved by the binding of the streptavidin conjugated donors with the biotin conjugated acceptors. After excitation of Eu-TBP and as result of the energy transfer, the luminescence of the QD655 acceptors also showed lengthened decay times like the donors. The energy transfer efficiency, as calculated from the decay times of the bound and the unbound components, amounted to 37%. The Förster-radius, estimated from the absorption and emission bands, was ca. 77 Å. The effective binding ratio, which not only depends on the ratio of binding pairs but also on unspecific binding, was obtained from the donor emission dependent on the concentration. As serum promotes unspecific binding, the overall FRET efficiency of the assay was reduced. We conclude that QDs are good substitutes for acceptors in FRET if combined with slow decay donors like Europium. The investigation of the influence of the serum provides guidance towards improving binding properties of QD assays.

L’objectif de cette thèse est l’élaboration de sondes à base de lanthanide pour la microscopie optique biphotonique. Cette technique d’imagerie complémentaire à l’IRM et au scanner permet une analyse rapide et facile de tissus épais. Afin de permettre l’observation en profondeur, l’absorption et l’émission de la sonde doit se situer dans la zone de transparence biologique [700 – 1200 nm]. L’absorption à deux photons (ADP) est un phénomène d’optique linéaire de troisième ordre par lequel l’état excité est atteint par absorption simultanée de deux photons. De fait, l’excitation à énergie moitié se situe dans la zone de transparence biologique. Les sondes envisagées combineraient les propriétés optiques uniques des lanthanides, telles que des bandes d’émission très étroites allant du visible à l’infrarouge et des durées de vie de luminescence longues, et les avantages de l’ADP, permettant une excitation dans l’IR et une résolution tridimensionnelle. Dans ce contexte, cette thèse décrit l’élaboration de complexes d’europium et d’ytterbium à ligands macrocycliques stables en milieu aqueux et dont la luminescence peut être sensibilisée à deux photons. Ces complexes ont permis l’imagerie de la vascularisation de cerveaux de souris par microscopie biphotonique dans le proche infrarouge. La seconde approche consiste à encapsuler un complexe luminescent dans des nanoparticules desilice formées par la technique sol-gel (collaboration A. Ibanez, institut Néel, Grenoble) afin de protéger le complexe du milieu biologique. Enfin la dernière approche consiste à greffer des complexes de lanthanides à la surface d’une particule de silice par chimie organométallique de surface. Ces travaux ont conduit à la formation de nano-objet très brillants dans le rouge et le proche infrarouge, détectables à l’échelle de l’objet unique par microscopie à deux photons. / Two Photon Scanning Laser Microscopy (TPSLM) has evolved as an emerging bio-imaging technique widely used in academic research and in medical diagnosis. This technique requires the design of bioprobes specially optimized for such purpose. A particular attention is actually devoted bio-probes featuring both two-photon absorption (TPA) and emission in the near infra-red (NIR) spectral range [700 – 1200 nm], also called biological window that is particularly promising for thick tissues imaging. In this context, europium complexes emitting in the red (615 nm) has been recently sensitized by two photon antenna effect and used for TPSLM in cells combining the advantages of lanthanide emission (sharp line and long lived) and those of TPA. Based on this preliminary results, this thesis describe the design of europium and ytterbium complexes which have an improved stability in water and good emission properties sensitized by TPA. Theses complexes allow the imaging of mice’s brain vascularisation in the NIR. An another approach to stabilize lanthanide complexes was also used by encapsulating theses fluorophores in silica nanoparticle (collaboration with A. Ibanez, Institut Néel, Grenoble). Then the last approach consists on the grafting of the chromophores on silica sphere using surface organometallic chemistry methods. The nanoparticles obtained by both way are really luminescent in the red or infrared and can be imaged as single nanoparticle by TPSLM.

Nanopartikel aus Natriumseltenerdfluoriden (NaREF4) erlangen aufgrund ihrer besonderen optischen und magnetischen Eigenschaften zunehmend Beachtung im Bereich der Lebenswissenschaften und bei optoelektronischen Anwendungen. Einige NaREF4-Materialien wie z.B. NaYF4, NaGdF4 und NaLuF4 sind geeignete Wirtsgitter für eine Dotierung mit Seltenerdelementen wie z.B. Eu(III), Tb(III), Nd(III), Pr(III) und Er(III), die Lumineszenzübergänge im sichtbaren Bereich aufweisen. Um NaREF4-Nanopartikel mit hoher Lumineszenzquantenausbeute zu erhalten oder um multifunktionale Nanomaterialien herzustellen, können über einen Kern/Schale-Aufbau mehrere Materialien innerhalb eines Partikels vereint werden. Bislang wurde jedoch nur in wenigen Studien der Kern/Schale-Aufbau von NaREF4-Nanopartikeln detailliert untersucht und die meisten dieser Studien basierten auf elektronenmikroskopischen Analysemethoden. Vor diesem Hintergrund wurde im Rahmen dieser Arbeit der Syntheseverlauf von nahezu monodispersen NaEuF4/NaGdF4-Kern/Schale-Nanopartikeln als Modellsystem untersucht, wobei zur Herstellung der Partikel zwei verschiedene Synthesemethoden verwendet wurden. Neben Untersuchungen durch Röntgendiffraktometrie und Transmissionselektronenmikroskopie wurden zusätzlich Methoden der optischen Spektroskopie eingesetzt, mit denen eine quantitative Bestimmung der Durchmischung zwischen dem Eu(III)-haltigen Kern und der Gd(III)-haltigen Schale innerhalb des Nanopartikels möglich war. Durch den Einsatz spezieller, sensibilisierender Oberflächenliganden konnte zudem der Eu(III)-Anteil auf der Oberfläche der Kern/Schale-Nanopartikel ermittelt werden. Obwohl beide Syntheseverfahren zu NaEuF4/NaGdF4-Kern/Schale-Nanopartikeln führten, die in Form, Größe und Kristallstruktur sehr ähnlich waren, wurden deutliche Unterschiede in der Durchmischung von NaEuF4-Kern- und NaGdF4-Schalenmaterial sichtbar. Aus den quantitativen, spektroskopischen Untersuchungen zum Kern/Schale-Aufbau ging hervor, dass in Abhängigkeit zur verwendeten Synthesemethode unterschiedlich stark ausgeprägte Eu(III)-Dotierungskonzentrationen und -gradienten in der NaGdF4-Schale der synthetisierten Kern/Schale-Nanopartikel vorlagen.

The ultimate goal of this work is providing insights into fundamental (physico-) chemical (redox) behavior of hexavalent uranium (U(VI)), trivalent europium (Eu(III)) and selenium (Se), and upon their interaction with ubiquitous small biomolecules (in case of U(VI) and Eu(III)) or alkaline earth metal ions (in case of Se(IV) and Se(VI)) by application of Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) spectroscopy. NMR spectroscopy is a powerful method proving its usefulness also to environmental and nuclear waste related studies in aqueous solutions by determination of (potential) binding sites, molecular structures (even conformation and configuration) as well as intra- and intermolecular dynamics, (redox) reaction pathways and mechanisms. The present work comprises extensive NMR spectroscopic investigations in aqueous (D2O) solutions on (i) glutathione (GSH) and glutathione disulfide (GSSG) interactions with trivalent lanthanides (Ln(III), particularly Eu(III)) and U(VI), (ii) molecular structures of citrate (Cit) complexes of U(VI), and their reactions upon light-irradiation, as well as (iii) pH- and temperature-dependent speciation of selenium oxyanions, i.e., Se(VI) (selenate) and Se(IV) (selenite and, notably, hydrogen selenite) as well as Se(VI) and Se(IV) interaction with alkaline earth metal ions. These investigations are supported by time-resolved laser-induced fluorescence spectroscopy (TRLFS), ultraviolet-visible-near infrared (UV-Vis-NIR), IR/Raman, and extended X-ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS) spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy (TEM), as well as quantum chemical calculations on density functional theory (DFT) level. For NMR spectroscopic data on GSH/GSSG complexation towards both Eu(III) and U(VI) are lacking, the herein presented results are new, and nicely complement other spectroscopic studies. Ln(III) complexes of GSH are characterized by their high solubility at least up to 300 mM and pD 5. However, the formation constant of the Eu(III)–GSH 1:1 complex is quite low with log K = 1.71 ± 0.01 as determined by Eu(III)-TRLFS. The diamagnetic La(III) and Lu(III) showed only little effect on the NMR spectra (< 2 ppm) while analogous Eu(III) solutions revealed hyperfine shifts up to 40 ppm. Eu(III)-induced 1H chemical shift changes are solely upfield and attributed to be predominantly due to pseudocontact contribution caused by dipolar interaction. In contrast, Eu(III)-induced 13C chemical shift changes of adjacent atoms – at least for the carboxyl and α-carbons – show alternating signs, indicating spin polarization effects owing to contact contribution. As expected for hard LEWIS acids and shown by other spectroscopies, complexation facilitates by the carboxyl groups. Qualitative differences between the glutamyl and glycyl carboxylate in metal ion complexation are ascribed to COULOMB repulsion due to the positively charged NH3+ in direct vicinity. Investigations of the U(VI)–GSH system covered experiments under both oxidizing and reducing conditions, performed with GSH’s oxidized form, GSSG, at ambient conditions, while samples with reduced GSH were handled under N2 atmosphere. For either condition, U(VI) showed interaction in aqueous (D2O) solution with both GSH and GSSG as determined by U(VI)-induced 1H and 13C chemical shift changes and U(VI) TRLFS, the latter comprising measurements at 25 °C and –120 °C. In principle, the interactions are stronger as compared to the Ln(III) system, and the speciation in both solution and solid is more complex owing to the aqueous chemistry of uranium. Observed binary GSH complexes are [UO2(H2GSH)]2+ for pD values up to ≈ 2.3, and [UO2(HGSH)]+ predominating for pD > 2.3. Complementary to the Eu(III) results, whenever net neutral binary GSH/GSSG or ternary hydroxo GSH/GSSG U(VI) complexes form in solution, both these U(VI) systems revealed extensive precipitation because of the low solubility of these complexes. Binary U(VI) GSSG and ternary U(VI) hydroxo GSSG complexes yield solid phases from pD 2 through 8, even in carbonatic media. The largest quantities of aqueous GSSG–U(VI) complexes are observed for pD ≈ 3.5, with the association constant for pH 3 determined by TRLFS as log K = 4.81 ± 0.08 for a 1:1 complex. GSH cannot compete with hydroxo ligands for complexation as of pD 6, whereas GSSG can at least partially compete with hydroxo and carbonate ligands upon formation of both quaternary U(VI) hydroxo carbonate GSSG, and ternary U(VI) carbonate GSSG (poly-)anionic species of high solubility. Under reducing and near-neutral conditions (pD 6 – 9) GSH immediately reduced U(VI) with subsequent formation of nanocrystalline UO2+x. After centrifugation of the starting material and allowing the decanted supernatant to age, the dissolved nanocrystals assemble network-like as disclosed by TEM, and further analysed by selected-area electron diffraction (SAED), energy-dispersive X-ray (EDX) and UV-Vis spectroscopy, revealing hyper-stoichiometric UO2+x phases. Such network-like assembled actinide containing nanocrystals, with the arrangement most likely provoked by the presence of GSSG, have never been shown before. Complementary, the precipitate that has also been allowed to age as a wet paste, showed color changes from yellow via olive to black, indicating a reaction to proceed. The repeatedly probed and dissolved material exhibited GSSG in NMR spectra, and UV-Vis-NIR absorption bands attributed to U(IV) and, notably, U(V), the latter implying a one-electron transfer with subsequent disproportionation of U(V) to U(IV) and U(VI). Therefore, obtained results advance the understanding of both fundamental redox behavior of uranium and the role of GSH (and related molecules) in U(VI) detoxification processes in vivo. Although investigated for over 70 years, there are still controversial discussions on both speciation and structures of U(VI)–Cit complexes. By means of NMR’s strength in both structure determination and sensitivity to dynamic processes, studies regarding the U(VI)–Cit system allowed further fundamental insights into the structures of the formed complexes on a molecular level. Upon complexation a chiral center is induced in Cit’s central carbon, resulting in the formation of two diastereomeric pairs of enantiomers, whereupon the dimeric complexes exhibit syn and anti configured isomers. In fact, the combination of 17O NMR (note: at natural abundance) and quantum chemical calculations allowed an unambiguous decision on complex geometry and overall configurations. It is evidenced for the first time that the syn isomer is favored in aqueous solution in contrast to the preferably crystallizing anti isomer. Both isomers coexist and interconvert among one another, with a rate estimated to be in the order of 102 s–1 at 25 °C in acidic media, and a corresponding activation energy of approximately 60 kJ mol–1. Moreover, clear indications for uranium chirality is observed for U4+, with the 1:1 U(IV)–Cit complexes also forming two diastereomeric pairs of enantiomers. Comprehensive spectroscopic experiments combined with quantum chemical calculations improved basic understanding of the photo-reaction mechanism in the U(VI)–Cit system. Regardless of sample conditions, Cit is degraded to β-ketoglutarate, acetoacetate, and acetone, while U(VI) was reduced to U(IV) at pD 2 and U(V) at pD 5, suggesting a two- and a one-electron transfer, respectively. NMR signals observed for pD 5 samples at remarkable 1H chemical shift values between 25 and 53 ppm, in combination with UV-Vis-NIR absorptions at about 750 and 930 nm, are assigned to U(V) complexes of citrate. With regard to reported pH dependence on reaction rate and yield in the literature combined with observations in this work, H+/D+ are considered mechanistically crucial constituents. Furthermore, the photoreaction proceeds intermolecularly, requiring for free Cit to be present in solution. In consideration of both the U(VI)–Cit photoreaction and the U(VI)–GSH chemical redox reaction, regardless of the particular mechanism, in both cases the process is intermolecular. This is not only a highly interesting, but the more a very important result, rendering the reductants not required to be bound to U(VI) in order to reduce it. Owing to the suitability of 77Se as NMR-active but non-radioactive Se isotope, this spectroscopy was also applied to study chemical behavior of the nuclear waste related long-lived 79Se. For the first time spectroscopic evidence is given for hydrogen selenite dimerization in aqueous solution upon formation of homo-dimers by hydrogen bonding that are stable up to 60 °C and so are other selenium oxyanionic species. Additionally, a remarkably higher 77Se chemical shift temperature coefficient of the dimer – as compared to corresponding selenite and selenous acid – was found. These findings are attributed to a significant deshielding upon heating due to remarkably different rovibrational modes upon stretching the dimer as a whole instead of its dissociation into monomers owing to the rather strong hydrogen bonds. Interaction of selenium oxyanions with ubiquitous alkaline earth metals, i.e., Ca2+ and Mg2+, showed formation of weak aqueous complexes of both selenite and hydrogen selenite dimer for excessive selenium, however, at high ionic strength (5.6 M) for equimolar Ca2+ and Se(IV) even at pHc 5 crystalline calcium selenite is formed.

Dans le cadre de la recherche de matériaux fluorescents et/ou phosphorescents à émission blanche, une nouvelle famille d'aluminosilicate de baryum/strontium dopée à l'europium (Ba/Sr)13-xAl22+2xSi10+2xO66:Eu a été étudiée. La première partie de ce mémoire rappelle les mécanismes d'émissions de fluorescence de l'ion Eu2+ et les processus de thermoluminescence (TL). La seconde partie est quant-à-elle consacrée aux conditions de synthèse des matériaux étudiés, à leur caractérisation structurale et leurs propriétés optiques. Typiquement, sous illumination UV, un matériau de la famille sus-mentionnée présente deux bandes de fluorescence (respectivement centrées dans le bleu et le vert du spectre du visible) dues à la présence de Eu2+ dans des sites cristallographiques distincts. Le cation Eu2+ occupe préférentiellement l'un des sites comme nous avons pu le vérifier par calculs ab-initio de type DFT. Les deux bandes d'émissions recouvrant la totalité du spectre du visible donnent lieu à une émission blanche pour l'oeil humain. La variation du taux d'europium et de la proportion Ba/Sr permettent de modifier le rendu colorimétrique de l'émission. Après arrêt de l'excitation UV, le composé présente une phosphorescence blanche visible une dizaine de minutes. Des mesures de déclins d'émission conjointement à des expériences de TL ont permis d'identifier et caractériser les pièges responsables de la phosphorescence. Enfin, l'analyse spectrale de la TL a pu mettre en avant une dépendance des spectres de TL avec la température à laquelle le matériau est excité. Ce phénomène surprenant a fait l'objet d'une analyse détaillée.

Dans le cadre de la recherche de matériaux fluorescents et/ou phosphorescents à émission blanche, une nouvelle famille d'aluminosilicate de baryum/strontium dopée à l'europium (Ba/Sr)13-xAl22+2xSi10+2xO66:Eu a été étudiée. La première partie de ce mémoire rappelle les mécanismes d'émissions de fluorescence de l'ion Eu2+ et les processus de thermoluminescence (TL). La seconde partie est quant-à-elle consacrée aux conditions de synthèse des matériaux étudiés, à leur caractérisation structurale et leurs propriétés optiques. Typiquement, sous illumination UV, un matériau de la famille sus-mentionnée présente deux bandes de fluorescence (respectivement centrées dans le bleu et le vert du spectre du visible) dues à la présence de Eu2+ dans des sites cristallographiques distincts. Le cation Eu2+ occupe préférentiellement l'un des sites comme nous avons pu le vérifier par calculs ab-initio de type DFT. Les deux bandes d'émissions recouvrant la totalité du spectre du visible donnent lieu à une émission blanche pour l'oeil humain. La variation du taux d'europium et de la proportion Ba/Sr permettent de modifier le rendu colorimétrique de l'émission. Après arrêt de l'excitation UV, le composé présente une phosphorescence blanche visible une dizaine de minutes. Des mesures de déclins d'émission conjointement à des expériences de TL ont permis d'identifier et caractériser les pièges responsables de la phosphorescence. Enfin, l'analyse spectrale de la TL a pu mettre en avant une dépendance des spectres de TL avec la température à laquelle le matériau est excité. Ce phénomène surprenant a fait l'objet d'une analyse détaillée.

La spectroscopie de fluorescence induite par laser et par rayonnement synchrotron a été utilisée pour analyser l'intense émission de l'ion Eu3+ dans les fluorures K2YF5 et K2GdF5. L'utilisation conjuguée de la spectroscopie résolue dans le temps, de la variation de la concentration en ions Eu3+ a permis d'identifier les niveaux électroniques de l'ion Eu3+ après excitation dans les niveaux 5D2, 5D1 et 5D0. Les répartitions spectrales de la fluorescence se corrèlent parfaitement avec un ion Eu3+ inséré dans un site de symétrie C1 . A basse température, en dessous de 100 K, des structures satellites apparaissent de part et d'autre des raies principales d'excitation 7F0 -> 5D0-2. L'analyse des évolutions spectrales et temporelles des fluorescences à partir du niveau 5D0 sous excitation sélective dans les raies principales d'excitation et dans les raies satellites en fonction de la température et de la concentration en ion EU3+ a permis d'attribuer les structures supplémentaires à des signatures de paires Eu3+-Eu3+ dont l'existence est favorisée par le caractère unidimensionnel de la structure cristallographique, y compris le composé K2EuF5. Des mécanismes de cascades et de divisions de photons impliquant les ions Gd3+ et Eu3+ ont été identifiés dans K2GdF5 sous excitation VUV. Finalement le caractère unidimensionnel de la structure s'avère être un handicap pour réaliser des luminophores à rendement quantique supérieur à l'unité.

No description available.

Low Temperature Nuclear Orientation (LTNO) is an important technique in the study of nuclei far from stability. The theory of LTNO and its application to the measurement of static nuclear moments and other quantities of spectroscopic interest are reviewed. The off-line facility at Oxford was used to study the decay of ¹³³I→¹³³Xe and ¹³⁵I→¹³⁵Xe. ¹³³I having Z=53 and N=80 has three protons above the closed shell Z=50 and two neutrons holes in N=82 shell, while ¹³⁵I has fully closed neutron shell since it has N=82, and they are of considerable theoretical interest since a wide variety of the theoretical nuclear models may be used to describe the observed levels close to the stable double closed shell structure. Another aim is to search for the nuclear magnetic dipole moment of the ground state of ¹³⁵I. Nuclear orientation of ¹³³IFe and ¹³⁵IFe enabled the mixing ratios of several transitions in the decay scheme of ¹³³I and ¹³⁵I to be determined. From temperature dependence for ¹³⁵I, the nuclear magnetic moment of ¹³⁵I has been deduced. Also temperature dependence for ¹³³I, analysed using a simple model, gave value for the magnetic hyperfine field that differed from previous published values. The method of combining nuclear orientation with NMR has become a very popular technique in recent years for determining nuclear magnetic dipole moments very precisely. The purpose of the NMR/ON experiment was to measure the hyperfine field with greater precision and to get some idea of the proportion of nuclei subject to it. Light Eu and Sm nuclei have attracted attention as systems with the number of protons right below the Z=64 subshell gap and the number of neutrons approaching N=82 major shell closure. Odd-proton, odd-neutron and odd-odd nuclei near the A=140 region have been investigated in the framework of the particle-triaxial rotor model. Main attention has been paid to explanation of experimental magnetic dipole and electric quadrupole moments of ground and isomeric states. Model predictions for deformation parameters of ^136-142Sm even-even cores have been extracted.