Peter C. Burns
Research Highlights
Peter C. Burns named Director of Energy Frontier Research Center.
The Burns group has two papers on ASAP:
Uranyl-peroxide interactions favor nano-cluster self-assembly: Journal of the American Chemical Society
Crown and bowl-shaped clusters of uranyl polyhedra: Inorganic Chemistry
Burns group has published paper "Symmetry versus minimal pentagonal adjacencies in uranium-based polyoxometalate fullerene topologies" designated a Very Important Paper (VIP) by the journal Angewandte Chemie
Peter C. Burns has focused most of his research over the past decade on the solid state chemistry, mineralogy, and environmental chemistry of uranium, as well as the transuranic elements neptunium and plutonium.
In 2005 the Burns research group published the first of a family of novel uranyl peroxide hydroxide spherical nanoclusters. To date, we have reported the synthesis and structures of nanoclusters containing 24, 28, 32, 40 and 50 uranium atoms. Additional papers will be forthcoming that report U16, U20 (multiple topologies), U24 (open), U36, U44 and U60. We will also be completing a "roadmap" for the synthesis of specific members of this complex family of actinide nano-scale clusters.
The Burns group has published extensively in uranium mineralogy, and have reported the crystal structures of dozens of uranyl minerals including autunite, bijvoetite, vandendriesscheite, wolsendorfite, boltwoodite, compreignacite, masuyite, haweeite, weeksite, fontanite, billietite, richetite, zippeite, and studtite.
The structure of studtite, reported by Burns and Kubatko (2003) is the first structure of a peroxide mineral, and the only one published to date. As reported by Kubatko et al. (2003) in Science, studtite forms in nature where radioactivity causes the formation of peroxide in water. Studtite was the first structure found that involved shared edges between any uranyl peroxide polyhedra, and the Burns group later developed a complex group of nano-structured uranium materials based upon this linkage.
The Burns group has examined the impacts of uranium mineralogy on the release of radionuclides from nuclear waste in a geological repository, such as Yucca Mountain. Much of the emphasis has been on neptunium, as it has a long half-life and is potentially mobile in the environment.
Burns has published extensively on borate mineralogy, copper minerals, and a variety of exotic new minerals. He has published structural hierarchies for borate minerals, sulfate minerals, inorganic uranium compounds, and inorganic neptunium compounds.
Peter C. Burns named Director of Energy Frontier Research Center.
The Burns group has two papers on ASAP:
Uranyl-peroxide interactions favor nano-cluster self-assembly: Journal of the American Chemical Society
Crown and bowl-shaped clusters of uranyl polyhedra: Inorganic Chemistry
Burns group has published paper "Symmetry versus minimal pentagonal adjacencies in uranium-based polyoxometalate fullerene topologies" designated a Very Important Paper (VIP) by the journal Angewandte Chemie
Peter C. Burns has focused most of his research over the past decade on the solid state chemistry, mineralogy, and environmental chemistry of uranium, as well as the transuranic elements neptunium and plutonium.
In 2005 the Burns research group published the first of a family of novel uranyl peroxide hydroxide spherical nanoclusters. To date, we have reported the synthesis and structures of nanoclusters containing 24, 28, 32, 40 and 50 uranium atoms. Additional papers will be forthcoming that report U16, U20 (multiple topologies), U24 (open), U36, U44 and U60. We will also be completing a "roadmap" for the synthesis of specific members of this complex family of actinide nano-scale clusters.
The Burns group has published extensively in uranium mineralogy, and have reported the crystal structures of dozens of uranyl minerals including autunite, bijvoetite, vandendriesscheite, wolsendorfite, boltwoodite, compreignacite, masuyite, haweeite, weeksite, fontanite, billietite, richetite, zippeite, and studtite.
The structure of studtite, reported by Burns and Kubatko (2003) is the first structure of a peroxide mineral, and the only one published to date. As reported by Kubatko et al. (2003) in Science, studtite forms in nature where radioactivity causes the formation of peroxide in water. Studtite was the first structure found that involved shared edges between any uranyl peroxide polyhedra, and the Burns group later developed a complex group of nano-structured uranium materials based upon this linkage.
The Burns group has examined the impacts of uranium mineralogy on the release of radionuclides from nuclear waste in a geological repository, such as Yucca Mountain. Much of the emphasis has been on neptunium, as it has a long half-life and is potentially mobile in the environment.
Burns has published extensively on borate mineralogy, copper minerals, and a variety of exotic new minerals. He has published structural hierarchies for borate minerals, sulfate minerals, inorganic uranium compounds, and inorganic neptunium compounds.
U50 and U40 Nanospheres
Burns Group reports the creation and structures of nano-structured uranyl peroxide clusters containing 40 and 50 uranium polyhedra
Angewandte Chemie International Edition 47, 2824-2827.
Burns publishes actinide structural chemistry book
First Uranium Nanospheres
Burns Group reports the first uranium-based nanospheres: These clusters contain 24, 28 and 32 uranium polyhedra
Angewandte Chemie International Edition 44, 2135-2139.
Plutonium Colloid
Burns Group reports the structure of plutonium colloid
Angewandte Chemie International Edition 47, 298-302
Burns group research on cover of Inorganic Chemistry, V46, 2007.
Elements V2, issue 6 (2006)
According to Thompson Scientific, Burns is one of the top ten cited geoscientists of the past decade.
