In Situ Optical Microspectroscopy Study of Isothermal Bleaching of γ-Irradiated International Simple Glass

Mariana Sendova; José A Jiménez; Charles L Crawford

doi:10.1021/acsphyschemau.3c00020

In Situ Optical Microspectroscopy Study of Isothermal Bleaching of γ-Irradiated International Simple Glass

ACS Phys Chem Au. 2023 Jul 26;3(6):515-520. doi: 10.1021/acsphyschemau.3c00020. eCollection 2023 Nov 22.

Authors

Mariana Sendova¹, José A Jiménez², Charles L Crawford³

Affiliations

¹ Optical Spectroscopy & Nano-Materials Lab, New College of Florida, Sarasota, Florida 34243, United States.
² Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry, Georgia Southern University, Statesboro, Georgia 30460, United States.
³ Savannah River National Laboratory (SRNL), Aiken, South Carolina 29808, United States.

Abstract

The isothermal bleaching of γ-irradiated glass was studied at elevated temperatures (280-340 °C) by real-time in situ optical microspectroscopy for the first time. The study was performed on γ-irradiated (0.83 and 1.99 MGy) International Simple Glass (ISG) borosilicate nuclear waste simulant made by Mo-SCI Corporation (Rolla, MO, USA). The current investigation proposes real-time optical transmission methodology for the activation energy assessment of isothermal bleaching of γ-irradiated glass. The method is based on robust quantification of the Urbach energy decay rates and yields similar activation energies for both doses within ∼0.24-0.26 eV.