The thermodynamic and mechanical properties of rutherfordine, a uranyl carbonate mineral, were studied by means of first principles calculations based on density functional theory. Thermodynamic properties, including enthalpy, free energy, entropy, heat capacity, and Debye temperature, were evaluated as a function of temperature and compared with experimental data in the 300–700 K range. Our calculations show very good agreement with experimental data, and based on them, the knowledge of these properties is extended to the temperature range from 0 to 1000 K, including the full range of thermal stability (0–700 K). The computed values of the heat capacity, entropy, and free energy at 298 K deviate from the experimental values by about 8, 0.3, and 0.3%, respectively. At 700 K, the corresponding differences remain very small, 3.9, 2.3, and 1.3%, respectively. The equation of state and mechanical properties were also computed. The crystalline structure is seen to be mechanically and dynamically stable. Rutherfordine is shown to be a highly anisotropic and brittle material with a very large compressibility along the direction perpendicular to the sheets characterizing its structure. The computed bulk modulus is very small, B ≈ 20 GPa, in comparison to the values obtained in previous calculations.

The structure and Raman spectrum of schoepite mineral, [(UO)O(OH)]·12HO, was studied by means of theoretical calculations. The computations were carried out by using density functional theory with plane waves and pseudopotentials. A norm-conserving pseudopotential specific for the U atom developed in a previous work was employed. Because it was not possible to locate H atoms directly from X-ray diffraction (XRD) data by structure refinement in previous experimental studies, all of the positions of the H atoms in the full unit cell were determined theoretically. The structural results, including the lattice parameters, bond lengths, bond angles, and powder XRD pattern, were found to be in good agreement with their experimental counterparts. However, the calculations performed using the unit cell designed by Ostanin and Zeller in 2007, involving half of the atoms of the full unit cell, led to significant errors in the computed powder XRD pattern. Furthermore, Ostanin and Zeller's unit cell contains hydronium ions, HO, which are incompatible with the experimental information. Therefore, while the use of this schoepite model may be a very useful approximation requiring a much smaller amount of computational effort, the full unit cell should be used to study this mineral accurately. The Raman spectrum was also computed by means of density functional perturbation theory and compared with the experimental spectrum. The results were also in agreement with the experimental data. A normal-mode analysis of the theoretical spectra was performed to assign the main bands of the Raman spectrum. This assignment significantly improved the current empirical assignment of the bands of the Raman spectrum of schoepite mineral. In addition, the equation of state and elastic properties of this mineral were determined. The crystal structure of schoepite was found to be stable mechanically and dynamically. Schoepite can be described as a brittle material exhibiting small anisotropy and large compressibility in the direction perpendicular to the layers, which characterize its structure. The calculated bulk modulus, B, was ∼35 GPa.

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The full crystal structure of becquerelite mineral phase was successfully determined using theoretical solid-state methods for the first time. Additionally, a complete study of its thermodynamic and mechanical properties and stability is reported.

Gamma uranium trioxide, γ-UO3, is one of the most important polymorphs in uranium trioxide system which is common throughout the nuclear fuel cycle and used industrially in the reprocessing of nuclear fuel and uranium enrichment. In this work, a detailed theoretical solid-state density functional theory study of this material was carried out. The computed lattice parameters, bond lengths, bond angles and X-Ray powder pattern were found in very good agreement with their experimental counterparts determined by X-Ray diffraction. The equation of state of γ-UO3 was obtained and, therefore, the values of the bulk modulus and its derivatives, for which there are not experimental data to compare with, were predicted. The computed bulk modulus differs from that of a previous density functional theory calculation by only 4.4%. The thermodynamic properties of this material, including heat capacity, entropy, enthalpy, free energy and Debye temperature were also determined as a function of temperature in the range 0-1000 K. The computed low-and high-temperature thermodynamic functions are in excellent agreement with the experimental ones determined from calorimetric measurements. At ambient temperature, the computed values of heat capacity, entropy, enthalpy and free energy differ from the experimental values by 5.3, 3.3, 3.9 and 2.6%, respectively. Finally, the Raman spectrum was determined and compared with the experimental one and was found to be in good agreement. A normal mode analysis of the theoretical spectra was carried out and used in order to resolve the uncertainty of the assignment in the observed Raman bands. The assignment permits to attribute the different bands to vibrations localized in the different distorted octahedra associated to the two non-equivalent uranium atom types present in the structure of γ-UO3.