Actinide compounds, especially actinide oxides, play a critical role in many stages of the nuclear fuel cycle.  The behavior of these materials under different conditions dictate aspects from crystal growth to disposal of spent fuels, and much of those properties start at the surface.  In that way, catalytic reactions that can lead to unstable storage conditions stem from surface interactions with environmental species.  Similarly, the morphology of crystal growth conditions is dictated by the stabilization or destabilization of different surfaces by ligands present in the solution environment.  We have recently been focusing on surface properties induced by the presence of surface defects and surface interactions with environmental and non-environmental molecules.  In this talk we present results of these studies for a series of actinide dioxides (AnO<sub>2</sub>).  We show how, under predicted conditions, one can control the morphology of growth, starting from nanoparticles to solids.  The effect of surface defects is also analyzed as they can significantly affect the outcome, not only in morphology but also on the catalytic properties of the different exposed surfaces.

Surface properties of actinide dioxides; crystal growth and catalysis

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ACS Fall 2022

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