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Full-Text Articles in Physical Sciences and Mathematics

Quantum-Mechanical Calculations Of Actinyl And Europium Sorption To Graphene Oxide, Edward Helvenston Aug 2015

Quantum-Mechanical Calculations Of Actinyl And Europium Sorption To Graphene Oxide, Edward Helvenston

All Theses

Quantum-mechanical calculations were performed to model the interactions of U(VI), Np(V), Pu(VI), and Eu(III) with carboxyl and hydroxyl functional groups of graphene oxide (GO). Models were created for sorption to a single sheet of GO. For U(VI) and Eu(III), models were also created for sorption to two sheets to evaluate the possibility of cation-induced GO aggregation via cation cross-linking of GO sheets. The quantum-mechanical calculations were used to characterize the sorption reactions in terms of energetics and vibrational peak shifts. The calculations performed used Gaussian09 with the B3LYP hybrid functional. Sorption was seen as favorable for all cations considered; the …


Radiation Damage As A Possible Metal Chronometer For Pre-Detonation Nuclear Forensics, Edward T. Peskie, Howard L. Hall Jul 2015

Radiation Damage As A Possible Metal Chronometer For Pre-Detonation Nuclear Forensics, Edward T. Peskie, Howard L. Hall

International Journal of Nuclear Security

The better we can determine how long ago nuclear material was made, the sharper our tools for investigating seized nuclear materials. This paper examines the effects of radiation damage caused by the decay of uranium isotopes, and assesses how experts in nuclear forensics could use the analyses of these damaged regions to determine how much time has passed since metal samples were formed. It also draws parallels from fission track dating studies of mineral samples under geologic time, and proposes modifications to past publications on α-recoil track dating in order to determine the time since a metal sample was cast …


Immobilization Of Scandium And Other Chemical Elements In Systems With Aquatic Macrophyte, S. A. Ostroumov, M. E. Johnson, Julian Tyson, B. Xing Jan 2015

Immobilization Of Scandium And Other Chemical Elements In Systems With Aquatic Macrophyte, S. A. Ostroumov, M. E. Johnson, Julian Tyson, B. Xing

Chemistry Department Faculty Publication Series

No abstract provided.


Selective Solid Phase Extraction Of Uranium Using An Aminophosphonic Acid Functionalized Composite Material, Ranalda Tsosie Jan 2015

Selective Solid Phase Extraction Of Uranium Using An Aminophosphonic Acid Functionalized Composite Material, Ranalda Tsosie

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Uranium is an element of interest because it is an abundant source of concentrated energy. In 1948 the US offered money for uranium ore mined in the US, which created a mining boom in the southwest that included the Navajo Reservation. During the late 1960s the demand for uranium decreased and many mining operations shutdown and left behind a legacy of contamination. As a result many Navajo communities have numerous water sources that exceed established maximum contamination levels for uranium and other toxic metals. These contaminations are a direct result of abandoned Cold War uranium mines and mill waste sites …