Kristian Larsson

Dissolution and characterization of HEV NiMH batteries

Metal recovery is an essential part of the recycling of hybrid electric vehicle battery waste and the first step in a hydrometallurgical treatment is dissolution of the solid material. The properties of separated battery electrode materials were investigated. Focus was put on both the solid waste and then the dissolution behaviour. The cathode contains metallic nickel that remains undissolved when utilizing non-oxidizing conditions such as hydrochloric or sulphuric acid in combination with a low oxygen atmosphere. In these conditions the cathode active electrode material is fully dissolved. Not dissolving the nickel metal saves up to 37% of the acid consumption for the cathode electrode material. In the commonly used case of oxidizing conditions the nickel metal dissolves and a cobalt-rich phase remains undissolved from the cathode active material. For the anode material a complete and rapid dissolution can be achieved at mild conditions with hydrochloric, nitric or sulphuric acid. Optimal parameters for all cases of dissolution was pH 1 with a reaction time of approximately ≥ 20,000 s.

The structure of plutonium(IV) oxide as hydrolysed clusters in aqueous suspensions.

The behavior of plutonium still puzzles scientists 70 years after its discovery. There are several factors making the chemistry of plutonium interesting including its ability to keep several oxidation states. Another unique property is that the oxidation states +III, +IV, +V and +VI may exist simultaneously in solution. Another property plutonium shares with some other tetravalent metal ions is the ability to form stable polynuclear complexes or colloids. The structures of freshly prepared and five-year old plutonium(IV) colloids are compared with crystalline plutonium(IV) oxide using Pu L(3)-edge EXAFS. It was shown that as the plutonium colloids age they do in fact shrink in size, contrary to previous expectations. The aged colloidal particles are indeed very small with only 3-4 plutonium atoms, and with a structure very similar to solid plutonium(IV) oxide, but with somewhat shorter mean Pu-O bond and Pu···Pu distances indicating a partial oxidation. The very small size of the colloidal particles is further supported by the fact that they do not sediment on heavy ultra-centrifugation.

Structure of 55Ti from relativistic one-neutron knockout

Results are presented from a one-neutron knockout reaction at relativistic energies on 56Ti using the GSI FRS as a two-stage magnetic spectrometer and the Miniball array for gamma-ray detection. Inclusive and exclusive longitudinal momentum distributions and cross-sections were measured enabling the determination of the orbital angular momentum of the populated states. First-time observation of the 955(6) keV -hole state in 55Ti is reported. The measured data for the first time proves that the ground state of 55Ti is a 1/2- state, in agreement with shell-model calculations using the GXPF1A interaction that predict a sizable N=34 gap in 54Ca.

Experimental study of the 15O(2p, γ)17Ne cross section by Coulomb Dissociation for the rp process

The time-reversed reaction O-15(2p, gamma) Ne-17 has been studied by the Coulomb dissociation technique. Secondary 17Ne ion beams at 500 AMeV have been produced by fragmentation reactions of Ne-20 in a beryllium production target and dissociated on a secondary Pb target. The incoming beam and the reaction products have been identified with the kinematically complete LAND-(RB)-B-3 experimental setup at GSI. The excitation energy prior to decay has been reconstructed by using the invariant-mass method. The preliminary differential and integral Coulomb Dissociation cross sections (sigma(Coul)) have been calculated, which provide a photoabsorption (sigma(photo)) and a radiative capture cross section (sigma(cap)). Additionally, important information about the nuclear structure of the Ne-17 nucleus will be obtained. The analysis is in progress.

Experimental study of the O-15(2p, gamma) Ne-17 cross section by Coulomb Dissociation for the rp process

The time-reversed reaction O-15(2p, gamma) Ne-17 has been studied by the Coulomb dissociation technique. Secondary 17Ne ion beams at 500 AMeV have been produced by fragmentation reactions of Ne-20 in a beryllium production target and dissociated on a secondary Pb target. The incoming beam and the reaction products have been identified with the kinematically complete LAND-(RB)-B-3 experimental setup at GSI. The excitation energy prior to decay has been reconstructed by using the invariant-mass method. The preliminary differential and integral Coulomb Dissociation cross sections (sigma(Coul)) have been calculated, which provide a photoabsorption (sigma(photo)) and a radiative capture cross section (sigma(cap)). Additionally, important information about the nuclear structure of the Ne-17 nucleus will be obtained. The analysis is in progress.

Coulomb breakup of 17 Ne from the view point of nuclear astrophysics

By the Coulomb breakup of 17Ne, the time-reversed reaction 15O(2p,γ)17Ne has been studied. This reaction might play an important role in the rp process, as a break-out reaction of the hot CNO cycle. The secondary 17Ne ion beam with an energy of 500 MeV/nucleon has been dissociated in a Pb target. The reaction products have been detected with the LAND-R3B experimental setup at GSI. The preliminary differential and integral Coulomb dissociation cross section sCoul has been determined, which then will be converted into a photo-absorption cross section sphot o, and a two-proton radiative capture cross section σcap. Additionally, information about the structure of the 17Ne, a potential two-proton halo nucleus, will be received. The analysis is in progress.

Coulomb Dissociation of 27P

In this work the astrophysical 26Si(p,γ) 27P reaction is studied using the Coulomb dissociation technique. We performed a 27P Coulomb Dissociation experiment at GSI, Darmstadt (28 May-5 June 2007) using the ALADIN-LAND setup which allows complete-kinematic studies. A secondary 27P beam at 498 AMeV impinging a 515mg/cm 2 Pb target was used. The relative energy of the outgoing system ( 26Si+p) is measured obtaining the resonant states of the 27P. Preliminary results show four resonant states measured at 0.36±0.07, 0.88±0.09, 1.5±0.2, 2.3±0.3 MeV and evidence of a higher state at around 3.1 MeV. The preliminary total cross section obtained for relative energies between 0 and 3 MeV has been measured and yields 55±7 mb.

Coulomb dissociation of 27P: A reaction of astrophysical interest

The ground-state decay of 26Al(0+) (T 1/2=1.05× 106) has a shorter life-time than the Universe. The presence of this element in the Galaxy was measured via g-ray spectroscopy, showing that the nucleosynthesis of this element is an ongoing process in stars. The proton-capture reaction 26Si(p,γ) 27P competes with the production of 26Al(0+) by β-decay. Coulomb dissociation of 27P has been suggested as an indirect method to measure radiative-proton capture when the direct reaction is not feasible. Such an experiment was performed at GSI with a secondary 27P beam produced by fragmenting a 36Ar primary beam at 500 A MeV. Two main observables are preliminarily presented in this work: the reaction cross section and the relative-energy spectrum of the outgoing fragments

Coulomb dissociation reactions on proton-rich Ar isotopes

The dipole strength response of neutron-deficient Argon isotopes was investigated in a Coulomb dissociation experiment using the LAND setup at GSI. Especially the study of low-lying strength components is interesting in several respects. Recent RQRPA calculations predict the appearance of low-lying E1 strength at excitation energies of Ex ≈ 9 MeV for nuclei at the proton dripline in this mass region [1, 2]. In a macroscopic picture, this is discussed in the context of an out-of-phase oscillation of a thin proton skin against the isospin-saturated core. For nuclear astrophysics the measured (γ, p) reactions are interesting for the calculation of reaction cross-sections and radiative proton capture rates for the rp-process. In this hydrogen burning process a lot of nuclear structure information is still missing, for instance for the bottleneck nuclei S and Ar [3].

Probing the single particle structure around 54Ca with one-neutron knock-out

The nuclei Ca-47 and Ti-55 were populated in one-neutron knock-out reactions at relativistic energies. Momentum distributions of the residual nuclei as well as gamma-ray spectra were measured at the GSI fragment separator (FRS). Preliminary results of the ongoing analysis including cross sections and spin/parity assignments are presented.