Unravelling the origin of long-term stability for Cs+ and Sr2+ solidification inside sodalite

Cesium (Cs⁺) and strontium (Sr²⁺) ions are the main fission byproducts in the reprocessing of spent nuclear fuels for nuclear power plants. Their long half-live period (30.17 years for ¹³⁷Cs and 28.80 years for ⁹⁰Sr) makes them very dangerous radionuclides. Hence the solidification of Cs⁺ and Sr²⁺ is of paramount importance for preventing them from entering the human food chain through water. Despite tremendous efforts for solidification, the long-term stability remains a great challenge due to the experimental limitation and lack of good evaluation indicators for such long half-life radionuclides. Using density functional theory (DFT), we investigate the origin of long-term stability for the solidification of Cs⁺ and Sr²⁺ inside sodalite and establish that the exchange energy and the diffusion barrier play an important role in gaining the long-term stability both thermodynamically and kinetically. The acidity/basicity, solvation, temperature, and diffusion effect are comprehensively studied. It is found that solidification of Cs⁺ and Sr²⁺ is mainly attributed to the solvation effect, zeolitic adsorption ability, and diffusion barriers. The present study provides theoretical evidence to use geopolymers to adsorb Cs⁺ and Sr²⁺ and convert the adsorbed geopolymers to zeolites to achieve solidification of Cs⁺ and Sr²⁺ with long-term stability.

Density Functional Theory Investigation into the B and Ga Doped Clean and Water Covered γ-Alumina Surfaces

The structures and energies of the B and Ga incorporated γ-alumina surface as well as the adsorption of water are investigated using dispersion corrected density functional theory. The results show that the substitution of surface Al atom by B atom is not so favored as Ga atom. The substitution reaction prefers to occur at the tricoordinated A(4) sites. However, the substitution reaction becomes less thermodynamically favored when more Al atoms are substituted by B and Ga atoms on the surface. Moreover, the substitution of bulk Al atoms is not so favored as the Al atoms by B and Ga on the surface. The γ-alumina surface is found to have stronger adsorption ability for water than the B and Ga incorporated surface. The total adsorption energy increases as water coverage increases, while the stepwise adsorption energy decreases. The studies show the coverage of water at 7.5 H2O/nm2 (five H2O molecules per unit cell) can fully cover the active sites and the further water molecule could only be physically adsorbed on the surface.

Comparative theoretical study of formic acid decomposition on PtAg(111) and Pt(111) surfaces

This theoretical study compares the catalytic decomposition pathways of HCOOH on pure Pt surface with the ideal single-atom model catalyst of PtAg nanostructures.

A comparative first principles study on trivalent ion incorporated SSZ-13 zeolites

The dispersion-corrected density functional theory has been used to study the trivalent ions B, Al, Ga, and Fe incorporated SSZ-13-type zeolites.

Adsorption and decomposition of methylamine on a Pt(100) surface: a density functional theory study

The decomposition of methylamine was investigated on a Pt(100) surface using DFT, and it was found that the C–N bond was not broken.