Journal
PHYSICAL CHEMISTRY CHEMICAL PHYSICS
Volume 24, Issue 14, Pages 8245-8250Publisher
ROYAL SOC CHEMISTRY
DOI: 10.1039/d1cp05570d
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Funding
- EPSRCs TRANSCEND project [EP/S01019X/1]
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This study investigates the incorporation of helium in plutonium dioxide using density functional theory and a point defect model. The simulations suggest that helium is mainly accommodated as an interstitial in the lattice, and its preference for oxygen vacancy sites increases with material ageing.
The high alpha-activity of plutonium dioxide (PuO2) results in significant ingrowth of radiogenic helium (He) in the aged material. To safely store/dispose PuO2 or use in applications such as space exploration, the impact of He accumulation needs to be understood. In this work, defect energies obtained using a density functional theory (DFT) + U + D3 scheme are used in a point defect model constructed for PuO2 to predict the method of He incorporation within the PuO2 lattice. The simulations predict that the preferred incorporation site for He in PuO2 is a plutonium vacancy, however, the point defect model indicates that helium will be accommodated as an interstitial irrespective of He concentration and across a wide stoichiometric range. By considering the charge imbalance that arises due to incorporation of Am3+ ions it is shown that He accommodation in oxygen vacancy sites will dominate in PuO2-x as the material ages.
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