Publications

2021

• H2 production under gamma irradiation of a calcium aluminate cement: an experimental study on both cement pastes and its stable hydrates
  
  • Acher Loren
  • de Noirfontaine Marie-Noëlle
  • Chartier David
  • Gorse -Pomonti Dominique
  • Courtial Mireille
  • Tusseau-Nenez Sandrine
  • Cavani Olivier
  • Haas Jérémy
  • Dannoux- Papin Adeline
  • Dunstetter Frédéric
  Radiation Physics and Chemistry, Elsevier, 2021, 189, pp.109689. The objective of this paper is to investigate the use of calcium aluminate cements as alternative cements within the context of nuclear waste stabilization by solidification. Using an external 60 Co source, the effect of γ-radiation on H2 gas production of one of the calcium aluminate cement-based materials (cement "Ciment Fondu") and its stable hydrates, was studied. The amount of H2 produced by these cement pastes is found to be much lower (up to five times less) than that of the Portland cement pastes containing the same amount of water, especially in the low range of water to cement ratios (W/C ≤ 0.4) where water is essentially engaged in the hydrates. The H2 production of the two major hydrates of Ciment Fondu, gibbsite AH3 and katoite hydrogarnet C3AH6, is very low compared with that of the main hydrates of other cements (Portland cement, Calcium Sulfo-Aluminate and Magnesium Phosphate cements). The type of water engaged in the hydrates, as hydroxyl groups and/or molecular water, influences significantly the H2 production. Thus, the nature of the hydrate is a key parameter to the aim of optimizing cement matrices with respect to the gas production under irradiation. XRD analysis shows that the crystal structures of gibbsite and katoite are preserved up to very high doses under electron irradiation (3 GGy). This makes calcium aluminate cements (CAC) potential good candidates for nuclear waste conditioning from the point of view of their stability under irradiation. (10.1016/j.radphyschem.2021.109689)
  DOI : 10.1016/j.radphyschem.2021.109689
• Key parameters for surface plasma wave excitation in the ultra-high intensity regime
  
  • Marini S
  • Kleij P S
  • Amiranoff F
  • Grech M
  • Riconda C
  • Raynaud Michèle
  Physics of Plasmas, American Institute of Physics, 2021, 28 (7), pp.073104. Ultra-short high-power lasers can deliver extreme light intensities (!10 20 W/cm 2 and 30 f s) and drive large amplitude Surface Plasma Wave (SPW) at over-dense plasma surface. The resulting current of energetic electron has great interest for applications, potentially scaling with the laser amplitude, provided that the laser-plasma transfer to the accelerated particles mediated by SPW is still efficient at ultra-high intensity. By means of particle-in-cell simulations, we identify the best condition for SPW excitation and show a strong correlation between the optimum surface plasma wave excitation angle and the laser's angle of incidence that optimize the electron acceleration along the plasma surface. We also discuss how plasma density and plasma surface shape can be adjusted in order to push to higher laser intensity the limit of surface plasma wave excitation. Our results open the way to new experiments on forthcoming multi-petawatt laser systems. (10.1063/5.0052599)
  DOI : 10.1063/5.0052599