The University of Sheffield
Department of Materials Science and Engineering

Dr Claire Corkhill

Dr Claire Corkhill

MEarthSci, PhD
Research Associate (REDUPP project), Immobilisation Science Laboratory

Address:
Department of Materials Science and Engineering
Sir Robert Hadfield Building
Mappin Street, Sheffield, S1 3JD

Telephone: +44 (0) 114 222 6036
Fax: +44 (0) 114 222 5943

Email: c.corkhill@sheffield.ac.uk

Claire completed her PhD on "The mineralogical and biogeochemical transformations of arsenic-bearing sulphide mineral in acid mine drainage systems" at The University of Manchester, which was completed in 2008. She then took up a research assistant position at The University of Manchester for one year, working in the geochemistry and geomicrobiology group. This included a one month visit to Kolkata, India for groundwater sampling and arsenic analysis. In 2010 she moved Sheffield, where she undertook a 15 month PDRA position on the DIAMOND consortium in the disposal of nuclear waste, before starting the current PDRA post.

Research interests

My research is focused on geochemistry and mineralogy and broadly consists of three key areas:

  1. The environmental behaviour and dissolution of radionuclides and toxic metals;
  2. Studies of geochemical, mineralogical and biogeochemical interactions at mineral surfaces using advanced analytical, spectroscopic and imaging techniques; and
  3. Geochemical and mineralogical transformations in extreme environments.

This connects to my current project, which brings my expertise in geochemistry to synthetic materials for nuclear waste disposal.

Current research

I am a PDRA working on the REDUPP (Reducing Uncertainty in Performance Prediction) project, an EU funded project which focuses on the management of nuclear waste (http://www.skb.se/lagerbladet____31780.aspx). Specifically, my research will determine how spent nuclear fuel analogues change with time during dissolution and how these changes affect the dissolution rate. Dissolution characteristics of these materials will be identified using surface spectroscopic and aqueous analytical techniques.

Key publications