Electronic and thermodynamic properties of α-Pu₂O₃

Based on density functional theory+U calculations and the quasi-annealing simulation method, we obtain the ground electronic state for α-Pu₂O₃ and present its phonon dispersion curves as well as various thermodynamic properties, which have seldom been theoretically studied because of the huge unit cell. We find that the Pu-O chemical bonding is weaker in α-Pu₂O₃ than in fluorite PuO₂, and subsequently a frequency gap appears between oxygen and plutonium vibration density of states. Based on the calculated Helmholtz free energies at different temperatures, we further study the reaction energies for Pu oxidation, PuO₂ reduction, and transformation between PuO₂ and α-Pu₂O₃. Our reaction energy results are in agreements with available experiment. And it is revealed that high temperature and insufficient oxygen environment are in favor of the formation of α-Pu₂O₃.