Structural properties of a calcium aluminosilicate glass from molecular-dynamics simulations: A finite size effects study

We study a calcium aluminosilicate glass of composition (SiO$_2$)$_{0.67}$-(Al$_2$O$_3$)$_{0.12}$-(CaO)$_{0.21}$ by means of molecular-dynamics (MD) simulations, using a potential made of two-body and three-body interactions. In order to prepare small samples that can subsequently be studied by first-principles, the finite size effects on the liquid dynamics and on the glass structural properties are investigated. We find that finite size effects affect the Si-O-Si and Si-O-Al angular distributions, the first peaks of the Si-O, Al-O and Ca-O pair correlation functions, the Ca coordination and the oxygen atoms environment in the smallest system (100 atoms). We give evidence that these finite size effects can be directly attributed to the use of three-body interactions.Comment: 36 pages, 14 figures. Journal of Chem. Phys., in pres

Corrosion of the International Simple Glass under acidic to hyperalkaline conditions

Assessment of glass dissolution kinetics, under disposal relevant temperature and pH environments, is required to credibly estimate radionuclide release rates from vitrified radioactive waste. Leaching of the International Simple Glass (ISG) under acidic to hyperalkaline conditions was examined. Forward rate measurements have been obtained using the dynamic leaching SPFT protocol and rate parameters for B, Na and Si in the basic regime; errors in rates predicted using these parameters at high pH and temperature are significant because the fitting uses logarithmic data. Longer term behaviour under hyperalkaline conditions, representative of some disposal environments, was investigated using the PCT and MCC-1 static leaching protocols with Ca(OH)2 solutions for up to 120 days (PCT) and 720 days (MCC-1). In hyperalkaline conditions dissolution was incongruent for all elements and the presence of alternating zirconia-rich and zirconia-poor alteration layers was observed on all leached monoliths, indicating the occurrence of a self-organisation phenomenon during leaching