| About this Abstract |
| Meeting |
2024 TMS Annual Meeting & Exhibition
|
| Symposium
|
Seaborg Institutes: Emerging Topics in Actinide Materials and Science
|
| Presentation Title |
Experimental and Theoretical Surface Studies of Plutonium Uusing Time-of-Flight Secondary Ion Mass Spectroscopy and Density Functional Theory |
| Author(s) |
Sarah C. Hernandez, Connor Dozhier, Robert Sykes, Thomas Venhaus |
| On-Site Speaker (Planned) |
Sarah C. Hernandez |
| Abstract Scope |
Plutonium metal is highly reactive by immediately forming an oxide layer when exposed to air, which is affected by inherit surface impurities. Previous XPS studies indicated that surface carbide contamination determines the level of Pu2O¬3-y (Garcia Flores et al., Surf. Sci. 605 2011), and previous DFT results calculated that Ga influences the chemisorption energies and structural binding of adsorbates. By using ToF-SIMS in conjunction with DFT, we can probe the effects of impurities on surface reactivity. Results show that after O gas exposures there are GaO2- fragments when the surface has approached a “PuO2” state as indicated by the relativity intensities of the Pu-O fragments (PuO3->PuO2->PuO-). To gauge the difference in oxidation when Ga is not present, O gas exposures on α-Pu will be presented. DFT calculations with a Ga impurity in the PuO2 (111) and (110) surfaces calculate an induced local distortion of the oxygen atoms and electronic structural. |
| Proceedings Inclusion? |
Planned: |
| Keywords |
Nuclear Materials, Other, Modeling and Simulation |