We are pleased to announce a Petrology Lunch with Patrick Painter on the topic of: Ambient pressure diamond anvil cells for in-situ glass corrosion studies.
Abstract
Diamond anvil cells (DACs) are a commonly used device for the study of high-pressure mineral physics and mineral-fluid interactions, with the capability to study these interactions in-situ via spectroscopy. This project looks to modify DACs to use them for larger samples at lower pressures and temperatures, for the study of the aqueous alteration of alkali borosilicate glasses representing the corrosion of vitrified high-level radioactive wastes during deep geological disposal. A DAC derived sample chamber will allow for the spectroscopic study of the alteration of simulant nuclear glasses without the potential damage from ex-situ sample preparation, and the portability of a DAC allows for long-term spectroscopic studies and the use of synchrotron x-ray analysis methods. The application of this technique to glass corrosion science provides a novel method for in-situ glass corrosion study and the first such method applicable to opaque glasses.