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Uranium dioxide (UO2) is the main component of nuclear fuels. This compound is very susceptible to oxidation, which results in the formation of the mixed-valence oxide U3O8. [1] From an application point of view, this interest relates to the safe and sustainable management of nuclear fuel. Our goal is an understanding of this oxidation process at the atomic level, using ab initio electronic structure calculations. The focus of this work lies in the early oxidation of stoichiometric UO2, where excess oxygen can be treated as interstitial point defects. In order to study this oxidation we investigate the adsorption of the O atom and oxygen-containing molecules (O2, H2O, H2O2) on the three most stable UO2 surfaces ((111), (110), and (100)). The calculations are performed within DFT, using PBE+U including spin-orbit coupling and taking into account the non-collinear 3k (transverse) magnetic ground state. Dissociative adsorption is found for H2O and H2O2 on the (111) and (100) UO2 surfaces respectively, forming hydroxyl groups on the surface. Adsorption on the UO2 surface lowers the barrier for the dissociation of O2. The defect formation energy is calculated for interstitial oxygen, up to several layers into the material starting from the surface. Additionally, adsorption energies are studied as a function of temperature and partial pressure.

Although recent studies have advanced the understanding of pyrolyzed Fe–N–C materials as oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) catalysts, the atomic and electronic structures of the active sites and their detailed reaction mechanisms still remain unknown. Here, based on first-principles density functional theory (DFT) computations, we discuss the electronic structures of three FeN4 catalytic centers with different local topologies of the surrounding C atoms with a focus on unraveling the mechanism of their ORR activity in acidic electrolytes. Our study brings back a forgotten, synthesized pyridinic Fe–N coordinate to the community’s attention, demonstrating that this catalyst can exhibit excellent activity for promoting direct four-electron ORR through the addition of a fifth ligand such as −NH2, −OH, and −SO4. We also identify sites with good stability properties through the combined use of our DFT calculations and Mössbauer spectroscopy data. Post-print / Final draft

Corrosion of nuclear fuel (UO2) leads to the formation of higher-order oxides up to U3O8. In order to study this oxidation, we investigate the adsorption of the O atom and oxygen-containing molecules (O2, H2O, H2O2) on the three most stable UO2 sur- faces ((111), (110), and (100)). The calculations are performed within DFT, using PBE+U including spin-orbit coupling and taking into account the non-collinear 3k (transverse) magnetic ground state.Dissociative adsorption is found for H2O and H2O2 on the (111) and (100) UO2 surfaces respectively, forming hydroxyl groups on the surface. Adsorption on the UO2 surface lowers the barrier to dissociation of O2. Defect formation energy is calculated for interstitial oxygen, up to several layers into the material starting from the surface. Diffusion energy barriers are presented. Adsorption energies are also studied as a function of temperature and partial pressure.