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Title: Oxygen self-diffusion in ThO2 under pressure: Connecting point defect parameters with bulk properties

Journal Article · · Materials Research Express (Online)
 [1];  [2];  [3];  [2]
  1. Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)
  2. Coventry Univ., Coventry (United Kingdom)
  3. Purdue Univ., West Lafayette, IN (United States)

ThO2 is a candidate material for use in nuclear fuel applications and as such it is important to investigate its materials properties over a range of temperatures and pressures. In the present study molecular dynamics calculations are used to calculate elastic and expansivity data. These are used in the framework of a thermodynamic model, the cBΩ model, to calculate the oxygen self-diffusion coefficient in ThO2 over a range of pressures (–10–10 GPa) and temperatures (300–1900 K). As a result, increasing the hydrostatic pressure leads to a significant reduction in oxygen self-diffusion. Conversely, negative hydrostatic pressure significantly enhances oxygen self-diffusion.

Research Organization:
Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE
Grant/Contract Number:
AC52-06NA25396
OSTI ID:
1296676
Report Number(s):
LA-UR-15-28611
Journal Information:
Materials Research Express (Online), Vol. 3, Issue 6; ISSN 2053-1591
Publisher:
IOP PublishingCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English