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Clark, Ryan

Publications and source records attributed to Clark, Ryan.

Effect of an external electric field on the dynamics and intramolecular structures of ions in an ionic liquid

Simulations of the ionic liquid 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)imide in an external electric field have been performed using a Drude particle polarizable force field. The structure of the ions has been analyzed, with close attention paid to the configurations of the ions. The “charge arm” concept is used to explain certain changes of these configurations that would be difficult to rationalize otherwise, e.g., trans → cis isomerization of the bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)imide anion and extension of the alkyl chain of the cation. It has also been shown that the ions orient themselves so that their charge arms align with and stretch out along the field, and these effects occur at lower external electric field strengths than cause a change in the inherent diffusion of the ions. Here, the dynamics of the system parallel and perpendicular to the field were analyzed, and it was found that the applied field affected the diffusion normal to the field. This is explained as a secondary effect of a change in the ion cage formed by the surrounding counterions of a given ion in the ionic liquid. The breakdown of the ion cages was rationalized by correlating changes to the inherent diffusion of the ions with other changes to the diffusion and bulk structure of the liquid, as well as considering the average forces on the ions compared to the force the ions would be expected to experience in an electric field. Parallel to the field, a drift was observed at every electric field studied. In electric fields with no changes to the ion cage structure, the relationship between the drift and electric field was found to be linear, becoming nonlinear as the ion cage structure breaks down.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

Structure and lifetimes in ionic liquids and their mixtures

With the aid of molecular dynamics simulations, we study the structure and dynamics of different ionic liquid systems, with focus on hydrogen bond, ion pair and ion cage formation. To do so, we report here radial distribution functions, their number integrals, and various time–correlation functions, from which we extract well-defined lifetimes by means of the reactive flux formalism. We explore the influence of polarizable force fields vs. non-polarizable ones with downscaled charges (±0.8) for the example of 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium bromide. Furthermore, we use 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium trifluoromethanesulfonate to investigate the impact of temperature and mixing with water as well as with the chloride ionic liquid. Smaller coordination numbers, larger distances, and tremendously accelerated dynamics are observed when the polarizable force field is applied. The same trends are found with increasing temperature. Adding water decreases the ion–ion coordination numbers whereas the water–ion and water–water coordination is enhanced. A domain analysis reveals that the nonpolar parts of the ions are dispersed and when more water is added the water clusters increase in size. The dynamics accelerate in general upon addition of water. In the ionic liquid mixture, the coordination number around the cation changes between the two anions, but the number integrals of the cation around the anions remain constant and the dynamics slow down with increasing content of the chloride ionic liquid.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

Testing and Versatility of the SAVY 4000 Nuclear Material Container - 15634

The SAVY 4000 container was designed by Nuclear Filter Technology, Inc. to meet DOE M441.1-1 requirements for safe storage of nuclear material, and it is currently being used at Los Alamos National Laboratory, Livermore National Laboratory, Idaho National Laboratory and Nevada National Security Site. The 316L stainless steel container can be manufactured in a range of sizes from 1 quart to 10 gallon capacity, it can be opened and closed easily by hand, it is sealed with a Viton{sup R} O-ring, and the filter retains particulates and resists liquid water entry while allowing hydrogen gas to escape. This innovative design has proven to provide benefits and uses beyond its original intent. For example, the container was tested in a simulated facility design basis accident involving high temperatures, fuel fire, and subsequent drop, and the damage ratio was measured. This has allowed the LANL plutonium facility to take credit for a material-at-risk reduction of approximately two orders of magnitude for material stored in the SAVY 4000 container. In addition, the water resistant filter allows the nuclear facility to credit the container as a safety feature to mitigate the risk of a criticality accident in the event of facility sprinkler system activation. The container has also been approved to transfer small quantities of solid nuclear material by hand carry between Los Alamos facilities, and it has been approved and used as a waste container for transuranic waste destined for the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant. The 1 quart capacity container and the future 2 quart design both fit inside the 9977 shipping container, and this has facilitated the transport of nuclear material from Idaho National Laboratory to Nevada Nuclear Security Site, obviated the need for repackaging the material for storage upon arrival. Finally, Los Alamos has recently contracted with Nuclear Filter Technology, Inc. to perform testing to certify the SAVY 4000 container as a DOT Type A liquid transport container. This paper will provide an overview of the various testing regimes and describe the resulting versatility of the container for nuclear material containment. (authors)

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗

Web Feature Service Validator

This site allows state data contributors to validate their WFS services against a specified schema for tier 3 data. The application uses the USGIN models API at https://github.com/usgin/usginmodels.

Clark, Ryan↗

Web Feature Service Validator

This site allows state data contributors to validate their WFS services against a specified schema for tier 3 data. The application uses the USGIN models API at https://github.com/usgin/usginmodels.

Clark, Ryan↗