First-principles study of oxygen adsorption and diffusion on the UN(001) surface

First-principles calculations have been performed to study the interaction of oxygen with UN (001) surface. The molecule oxygen was found to dissociate spontaneously on all considered adsorption sites on the surface. Atomic oxygen (O) preferred to adsorb on a hollow site or the top of uranium ions, which were energetically degenerate. Adsorption on top of nitrogen (N) ion was found to be unstable which may be attributed to the repulsion of negatively charged O with the N anions. In comparison with those on alpha-U(001) surface at the same coverage, the adsorption of O on UN(001) surface was found to be less stable, being about 0.7 eV higher in adsorption energy. The diffusion barrier for O on the surface was found to be similar to 0.5 eV, similar to those of alpha-U(001) surface. The penetration of O into the substrate was difficult with a high barrier of 2.86 eV. Analysis on the density of states (DOS) has shown that the adsorbed oxygen has strong chemical interaction with surface ions, characterized by the hybridization of O 2p states with N 2p and U 6d, U 5f states.