CAREER: Radiation Interaction with Nanostructured Ceramics - Integrating Materials Research Into Nuclear Education

非技术描述：耐辐射材料可以延长部件的寿命，在更安全、更可靠的核系统的设计和运行中可能非常有价值--在这些系统中，控制辐射是首要任务。对辐射相互作用的原子水平的了解对于开发能够承受当前和未来核技术的密集辐射的先进材料至关重要。这个职业项目的目标是从根本上理解纳米结构陶瓷在极端辐射环境下的行为。这一基础知识可能会使纳米材料设计成为新的科学，从而扩展具有优异抗辐射能力的材料的性能。与研究工作相辅相成的是一个综合教育部分，它将通过将先进材料和纳米技术与核教育联系起来，并在控制辐射的关键领域培训青年科学家，从而对科学界产生影响。将作出特别努力，通过与当地社区(纽约州Half Hollow Hills学区)和学术推广计划(包括Summer@Rensselaer)的合作，让代表不足的高中生和教师群体参与进来。这一方法将有助于促进公众对核辐射(包括挑战和材料解决方案)的了解。技术细节：这个职业项目旨在阐明辐射相互作用和缺陷行为的原子机制，以了解纳米结构陶瓷的损伤机制和结构演变，以及不同长度尺度如何影响材料的辐射性能。这项研究建立在纳米结构陶瓷的合成、高能束辐照以及在表征材料结构演变和缺陷行为方面的最先进方法(包括先进的透射电子显微镜和离子束技术)的组合的基础上。高温氧化物熔融溶液量热法正在纳米结构陶瓷上进行，以便将热力学理解与辐射稳定性相关联。辐射与纳米陶瓷相互作用的原子机制以及基于密度泛函理论、经典分子动力学(MD)和动力学蒙特卡罗(KMC)的多尺度计算模拟被用来确定纳米结构在辐射作用下的演化。在基础认识得到改善的基础上，新的科学正在发展，以开发具有增强的辐射耐受性的先进材料，通过纳米材料设计有效地控制辐射。

NON-TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION: Radiation-tolerant materials can extend the lifetime of components, and may be very valuable in the design and operation of safer, more reliable nuclear systems - where controlling radiation is a top priority. The atomic-level understanding of radiation interaction is critical for developing advanced materials that can withstand intensive radiation for both current and future nuclear technologies. This CAREER project targets the fundamental understanding of the behavior of nanostructured ceramics under extreme radiation environments. This fundamental knowledge may enable new science for nanoscale materials design that extends the performance of materials with excellent radiation tolerance. The research effort is complemented by an integrated education component which will impact the scientific community by bridging advanced materials and nanotechnology with nuclear education and training of young scientists in the critical area of controlling radiation. Special efforts will be made to involve underrepresented groups of high-school students and teachers through collaborations with local communities (Half Hollow Hills school district, NY) and academic outreach programs (including Summer@Rensselaer). This approach will help promote the general public's understanding of nuclear radiation (both the challenges and materials solutions).TECHNICAL DETAILS: This CAREER project aims to elucidate atomistic mechanisms of radiation interaction and defect behaviors in order to understand the damage mechanisms and structural evolution of nanostructured ceramics and how different length scales affect materials radiation performance. This research builds on a synergetic effort of synthesizing nanostructured ceramics, energetic beam irradiation and the combination of state-of-the-art approaches (including advanced transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and ion beam techniques) in characterizing materials structural evolution and defect behaviors. High-temperature oxide melt solution calorimetry is being performed on nanostructured ceramics in order to correlate the thermodynamic understanding with radiation stability. The atomistic mechanisms of radiation interaction with nanostructured ceramics alongside multi-scale computational simulations based on DFT, classical molecular dynamic (MD) and kinetic Monte Carlo (kMC) are being used to determine how nanostructure evolves upon radiation. Based on an improved fundamental understanding, new science is evolving to develop advanced materials with enhanced radiation tolerance for effective radiation control through nanoscale materials design.