Please join ND Energy for the Graduate Student & Postdoc Luncheon Seminar Series, featuring presentations by graduate students and postdocs about their energy-related research. All interested graduate students and postdocs are welcome to attend. 

Please RSVP to the Google calendar invitation by 5:00 p.m. on Monday, February 19. If you did not receive a calendar invite or have questions about the seminar series, please contact Ginger Sigmon, ND Energy Managing Director. 

The following presentations will be held this month:

• Ilya Sosulin, Postdoctoral Research Fellow (Lisouskaya Research Group) - "Radiation stability of tri-n-butyl phosphate and other nuclear waste separation ligands" 
• Amita Bedar, Postdoctoral Research Fellow - (LaVerne Research Group)

Abstract

"Radiation stability of tri-n-butyl phosphate and other nuclear waste separation ligands"
Radical intermediates derived from di-n-ButylN,N-Diethylcarbamoylphosphonate (DBDECP), N,N-Bis(2-ethylhexyl)butyramide(DEHBA), dioctyl phosphate (DOP), tributyl phosphate (TBP), N,N,N,N-tetraoctyldiglycolamide (TODGA), andoctyl(phenyl)-N,N-diiso-butylcarbamoylmetliylphosphine oxide (CMPO), wereexamined by EPR spectroscopy at 77 K. In all cases, carbon-centered radicalsoriginating from alkyl or amide compounds were consistently identified in theexperimental spectra. The spectral assignment was based on the advanced quantumchemical calculation at the DFT(B3LYP)/L1a_3 level of theory allowingdetermination the approximate conformations of the radicals involved. Themeasured kinetics exhibit a linear accumulation of radicals up to anirradiation dose of 1 kGy. The relative yield of stabilized radicals in organicphosphates (TBP, DOP) is approximately three times higher than in amide (DEHBA)or carbamoyl phosphonate (DBDECP) samples. The proposed approach for estimatingradiation stability can be expanded to other compounds or mixtures relevant tonuclear waste separation, as well as other substances of particular interest.