Near surface stoichiometry in UO2: A density functional theory study
- Idaho National Lab. (INL), Idaho Falls, ID (United States)
- Univ. of Florida, Gainesville, FL (United States)
The mechanisms of oxygen stoichiometry variation in UO2 at different temperature and oxygen partial pressure are important for understanding the dynamics of microstructure in these crystals. However, very limited experimental studies have been performed to understand the atomic structure of UO2 near surface and defect effects of near surface on stoichiometry in which the system can exchange atoms with the external reservoir. In this study, the near (110) surface relaxation and stoichiometry in UO2 have been studied with density functional theory (DFT) calculations. On the basis of the point-defect model (PDM), a general expression for the near surface stoichiometric variation is derived by using DFT total-energy calculations and atomistic thermodynamics, in an attempt to pin down the mechanisms of oxygen exchange between the gas environment and defected UO2. By using the derived expression, it is observed that, under poor oxygen conditions, the stoichiometry of near surface is switched from hyperstoichiometric at 300 K with a depth around 3 nm to near-stoichiometric at 1000 K and hypostoichiometric at 2000 K. Furthermore, at very poor oxygen concentrations and high temperatures, our results also suggest that the bulk of the UO2 prefers to be hypostoichiometric, although the surface is near-stoichiometric.
- Research Organization:
- Energy Frontier Research Centers (EFRC) (United States). Center for Materials Science of Nuclear Fuel (CMSNF); Idaho National Laboratory (INL), Idaho Falls, ID (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES)
- Grant/Contract Number:
- AC07-05ID14517
- OSTI ID:
- 1212694
- Journal Information:
- Journal of Chemistry, Vol. 2015; ISSN 2090-9063
- Publisher:
- HindawiCopyright Statement
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Web of Science
DFT+ U in Dudarev’s formulation with corrected interactions between the electrons with opposite spins: The form of Hamiltonian, calculation of forces, and bandgap adjustments
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