Understanding the microstructural evolution of glasses during their interaction with water and radiation is of fundamental importance in addressing the corrosion of nuclear waste forms under geological disposal conditions. Here we report the results of more than 21 years of corrosion of two borosilicate glasses showing the formation of mesoporous C–S–H gels in Ca-bearing glasses and a mainly microporous microstructure in Al-bearing glasses. These porous corroded glasses were then irradiated with heavy ions to simulate the effects of recoil nucleus damage and monitored in real time using transmission electron microscopy with in situ ion irradiation. The ballistic collisions remarkably healed the porous corroded glasses to a pore-free homogeneous microstructure. Besides providing new insights and predictions about how doped glasses and actual waste forms may evolve under corrosion and irradiation, the results highlight the non-universal nature of the existing corrosion models and the important role that the glass composition and radiation damage play in the evolution of the microstructure during corrosion.

了解玻璃在与水和辐射的相互作用过程中的微观结构演变对于解决地质处置条件下核废料形式的腐蚀至关重要。在这里，我们报告了两个硼硅酸盐玻璃超过21年的腐蚀结果，结果表明，含钙玻璃中形成了中孔C–S–H凝胶，而含铝玻璃中则主要是微孔的微观结构。然后用重离子辐照这些多孔腐蚀的玻璃，以模拟反冲核损伤的影响，并使用带有原位离子辐照的透射电子显微镜实时监测。弹道碰撞显着地将多孔腐蚀玻璃修复成无孔的均匀微观结构。