Boroxol ring dissolution in molten and glassy B2O3 by neutron and x-ray diffraction difference methods.

The structure of 11B2O3 boron oxide glass and its liquid have been measured over a wide temperature range by pulsed neutron diffraction, from T = 14 K up to 1500 K. Contrary to prior neutron scattering results in the literature, thermal expansion of the B-O bond is resolved, with a coefficient of αBO = 4.1(3) ppm K-1, in quantitative agreement with the result previously derived by high-energy x-ray diffraction.

Plutonium oxide melt structure and covalency.

Advances in nuclear power reactors include the use of mixed oxide fuel, containing uranium and plutonium oxides. The high-temperature behaviour and structure of PuO above 1,800 K remain largely unexplored, and these conditions must be considered for reactor design and planning for the mitigation of severe accidents. Here, we measure the atomic structure of PuO through the melting transition up to 3,000 ± 50 K using X-ray scattering of aerodynamically levitated and laser-beam-heated samples, with O/Pu ranging from 1.

Microgravity effects on nonequilibrium melt processing of neodymium titanate: thermophysical properties, atomic structure, glass formation and crystallization.

The relationships between materials processing and structure can vary between terrestrial and reduced gravity environments. As one case study, we compare the nonequilibrium melt processing of a rare-earth titanate, nominally 83TiO-17NdO, and the structure of its glassy and crystalline products. Density and thermal expansion for the liquid, supercooled liquid, and glass are measured over 300-1850 °C using the Electrostatic Levitation Furnace (ELF) in microgravity, and two replicate density measurements were reproducible to within 0.

The role of urea in formation of the sodium acetate trihydrate (SAT)-urea eutectic liquid: a neutron diffraction and isotopic substitution study.

Neutron diffraction with isotopic substitution has been used to investigate the structure of the liquid sodium acetate trihydrate-urea eutectic (mole fraction () of 0.60) at 50 °C. Urea competes with acetate anions and water molecules in the solvation of sodium ions, displacing water and, simultaneously, stabilising the liberated 'excess' water through hydrogen bonding between water and urea molecules in the eutectic liquid.