Materials Science of Actinides (MSA)
Director
Peter Burns
Lead Institution
University of Notre Dame
Year Established
2009
Mission
To conduct collaborative, multidisciplinary, novel and transformative research on actinide materials emphasizing actinide ceramic, metallic, hybrid, and nanoscale materials; effectively integrate experimental and computational approaches; and solve research questions that are critical to the energy future of the nation.
Research Topics
nuclear (including radiation effects), defects, corrosion, separations, mesostructured materials, materials and chemistry by design, synthesis (novel materials), synthesis (self-assembly), synthesis (scalable processing)
Materials Studied
Materials: metal, oxide, polymer, ceramic, rare earth elements, actinide, porous
Interfaces: organic/oxide, metal/oxide, liquid/solid, solid/solid
Nanostructured Materials: 0D, 1D, 2D, 3D, nanocomposites
Experimental and Theoretical Methods
X-ray diffraction and scattering, X-ray imaging, X-ray spectroscopy, electron microscopy, scanning probe microscopy, surface science, neutron diffraction and scattering, laser diagnostics, molecular dynamics (MD), density functional theory (DFT), monte carlo (MC), quantum mechanics, classical mechanics
Partner Institutions
- George Washington University
- Los Alamos National Laboratory
- Oregon State University
- Stanford University
- University of Akron
- University of California Davis
- University of Notre Dame
- University of Minnesota
- University of Tennessee
