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Title: The role of surface hydroxyls on the radiolysis of gibbsite and boehmite nanoplatelets

Journal Article · · Journal of Hazardous Materials
ORCiD logo [1]; ORCiD logo [2]; ORCiD logo [1];  [1];  [1];  [1]; ORCiD logo [2];  [1]; ORCiD logo [1];  [2]; ORCiD logo [1]; ORCiD logo [3]; ORCiD logo [1];  [1]; ORCiD logo [1]
  1. Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States)
  2. Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States). Environmental Molecular Sciences Lab. (EMSL)
  3. Fudan Univ., Shanghai (China)

Understanding mechanistic pathways to radiolytic hydrogen generation by metal oxyhydroxide nanomaterials is challenging because of the difficulties of distinguishing key locations of OH bond scission, from structural interiors to hydroxylated surfaces to physi-sorbed water molecules. In this work we exploited the interface-selectivity of vibrational sum frequency generation (VSFG) to isolate surface versus bulk hydroxyl groups for gibbsite and boehmite nanoplatelets before and after 60Co irradiation at dose levels of approximately 7.0 and 29.6 Mrad. While high-resolution microscopy revealed no effect on particle bulk and surface structures, VSFG results clearly indicated up to 83% and 94% radiation-induced surface OH bond scission for gibbsite and boehmite, respectively, a substantially higher proportion than observed for interior OH groups by IR and Raman spectroscopy. Electron paramagnetic spectroscopy revealed that the major radiolysis products bound in the mineral structures are trapped electrons, O, O2 and possibly F-centers in gibbsite, and H, O and O3 in boehmite, which persist on the time frame of several months. The entrapped radiolysis products appear to be highly stable, enduring re-hydration of particle surfaces, and likely reflect a permanent adjustment in the thermodynamic stabilities of these nanomaterials.

Research Organization:
Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States). Environmental Molecular Sciences Lab. (EMSL); Energy Frontier Research Centers (EFRC) (United States). Interfacial Dynamics in Radioactive Environments and Materials (IDREAM)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES); USDOE Laboratory Directed Research and Development (LDRD) Program; USDOE Office of Science (SC), Biological and Environmental Research (BER)
Grant/Contract Number:
AC05-76RL01830
OSTI ID:
1638688
Alternate ID(s):
OSTI ID: 1692186
Report Number(s):
PNNL-SA-150311; TRN: US2201811
Journal Information:
Journal of Hazardous Materials, Vol. 398; ISSN 0304-3894
Publisher:
ElsevierCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

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