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Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

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A classical molecular dynamics simulation method for the formation of “dry” gels from boro-aluminosilicate glass structures

In contact with water, glass transforms into amorphous and porous structures called gels. A simulation method based on classical molecular dynamics is proposed here to mimic “dry” gels forming from initial oxide glass structures. Six glass compositions were investigated. Two behaviours were evidenced depending on the initial glass composition, and in particular on the quantity of elements removed. If a large quantity of soluble elements (B, Na) was removed, it induced an increase in the average pore size within the gels, and the time needed to stabilise the gel structure increased because more local atomic rearrangements occurred. The gel network displayed a higher proportion of Si-Q4 at the expense of Si-Q3 and a lower average ring size compared to the glass network, irrespective of the glass composition. Surface effects were also highlighted in the dry gels, such as the presence of 3-coordinated Al and a decrease in the average angle Si-O-Si and Al-O-Al. Our findings will be compared to both wet gels and experimental data in further studies, to help find the best procedure to simulate such structures.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Effects of Al:Si and (Al+Na):Si Ratios on the Properties of the International Simple Glass, Part II: Structure

High-alumina containing high-level waste (HLW) will be vitrified at the Waste Treatment Plant at the Hanford Site. The resulting glasses, high in alumina, will have distinct composition-structure-property (C-S-P) relationships compared to previously studied HLW glasses. These C-S-P relationships determine the processability and product durability of glasses and therefore must be understood. The main purpose of this study is to understand the detailed structural changes caused by Al:Si and (Al+Na):Si substitutions in a simplified nuclear waste model glass (ISG, International Simple Glass) by combining experimental structural characterizations and molecular dynamics (MD) simulations. The structures of these two series of glasses were characterized by neutron total scattering and 27Al, 23Na, 29Si, and 11B solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy. Additionally, MD simulations were used to generate atomistic structural models of the borosilicate glasses and simulation results were validated by the experimental structural data. Short-range (e.g., bond distance, coordination number, etc.) and medium-range (e.g., oxygen speciation, network connectivity, polyhedral linkages) structural features of the borosilicate glasses were systematically investigated as a function of the degree of substitution. The results show that bond distance and coordination number of the cation-oxygen pairs are relatively insensitive to Al:Si and (Al+Na):Si substitutions with the exception of the B-O pair. Additionally, the Al:Si substitution results in an increase of tri-bridging oxygen species, while (Al+Na):Si substitution creates non-bridging oxygen species. Charge compensator preferences were found for Si-[NBO] (Na+), [3]B-[NBO] (Na+), [4]B (mostly Ca2+), [4]Al (nearly equally split Na+ and Ca2+), and [6]Zr (mostly Ca2+). The network former-BO-network former linkages preferences were also tabulated; Si-O-Al and Al-O-Al were preferred at the expense of lower Si-O-[3]B and [3]B-O-[3]B linkages. These results provide insights on the structural origins of property changes such as glass transition temperature caused by the substitutions, providing a basis for future improvements of theoretical and computer simulation models.

Lu, Xiaonan↗

Materials Data on Al2(SO4)3 by Materials Project

Al2(SO4)3 crystallizes in the trigonal R-3 space group. The structure is three-dimensional. there are two inequivalent Al3+ sites. In the first Al3+ site, Al3+ is bonded to six O2- atoms to form AlO6 octahedra that share corners with six equivalent SO4 tetrahedra. All Al–O bond lengths are 1.89 Å. In the second Al3+ site, Al3+ is bonded to six O2- atoms to form AlO6 octahedra that share corners with six equivalent SO4 tetrahedra. All Al–O bond lengths are 1.90 Å. S6+ is bonded to four O2- atoms to form SO4 tetrahedra that share corners with four AlO6 octahedra. The corner-sharing octahedra tilt angles range from 26–37°. There is one shorter (1.47 Å) and three longer (1.48 Å) S–O bond length. There are four inequivalent O2- sites. In the first O2- site, O2- is bonded in a bent 150 degrees geometry to one Al3+ and one S6+ atom. In the second O2- site, O2- is bonded in a bent 150 degrees geometry to one Al3+ and one S6+ atom. In the third O2- site, O2- is bonded in a bent 150 degrees geometry to one Al3+ and one S6+ atom. In the fourth O2- site, O2- is bonded in a bent 150 degrees geometry to one Al3+ and one S6+ atom.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗