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The SALT Research Group

UC Berkeley Nuclear Engineering Department

D. Nathanael Gardner

BIOGRAPHY

Nathanael Gardner is a 5th year PhD candidate in the SALT Research Group. He received his Bachelor of Science degree in chemical engineering from Howard University. His research currently focuses on the physical and chemical properties of molten fluoride salts.

In his free time he enjoys biking, reading, and playing basketball.

FELLOWSHIPS

2021 GEM Fellowship

2022 NSF GRFP Fellowship

2022 NEUP Fellowship

AWARDS

2024-2025 Stanley Prussin Award for High Achieving NE Grad

2025 UCB NE Best Paper Award

PROJECTS

Speciation of Light Elements at High Temperatures NEUP

Bridging the gap between experiments and modeling to improve the design of molten salt reactors IRP

Hellman Fellows Fund

Nathanael’s projects’ focus is determining the relationship between the acidity of molten fluoride salts and their properties, which is through the DOE-NE. This project utilizes optical basicity and electrochemical measurements using ion-specific electrodes to accurately measure the acidity of these salts.

CONTACT INFORMATION

Email: nathanael_gardner@berkeley.edu

ORCID Profile: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8780-6004

PUBLICATIONS

  1. Gardner, D. N.; Williams, H.; Vogel, S. C.; Fayfar, S.; Khaykovich, B.; Srivastava, S.; Hwang, A.; Asta, M.; Sprouster, D.; Olds, D.; Vershbow, G.; Neuefeind, J. C.; Scarlat, R. O. Solid Structure of Li2BeF4 (FLiBe) from Room Temperature to Melting Studied by Neutron and X-Ray Diffraction. J. Appl. Crystallogr. 2025, 58 (2), 435–446. https://doi.org/10.1107/S1600576725000548.
  2. Gardner, D. N.; Denis, M.; Borrello, M.; Sclafani, C.; Scarlat, R. O. The Effect of Complex Forming Cations on the Thermophysical Properties of Beryllium and Uranium Fluoride Salts for Nuclear Reactor Applications. ACS Phys. Chem. Au 2025. https://doi.org/10.1021/acsphyschemau.5c00043.
  3. Munro, T.; Chiu, R.; Rose, M. A.; Benes, O.; Boca, M.; Gardner, D. N.; Leong, A.; Mastromarino, S.; Pamplin, K. L.; Piro, M. H. A.; Saoudi, M.; Schorne-Pinto, J.; Sclafani, C. M.; Smith, A. L.; Smith, N. D.; Sulejmanovic, D.; Berry, A. M.; Chen, R.; Chung, K. M.; Dahman, C.; Detrick, K.; Feng, T.; Ocádiz Flores, J. A.; Gallagher, R.; Gardner, L.; Guo, X.; Jackson, J. M.; Karlsson, T.; Kasper, P.; Kim, H.; McIlwain, L.; Memmott, M.; Merritt, B.; Monreal, M. J.; Oishi, K.; Orlovskaya, L.; Parker, S. S.; Prudil, A. A.; Robison, A. D.; Scott, S.; Romero, R. C. I.; Vlieland, J.; Woods, M. E.; Zhang, J.; Besmann, T. M.; Scarlat, R. O. Round Robin Measurements of Molten Salt Properties for LiF-NaF-KF (FLiNaK) and NaCl-KCl Mixtures. J. Chem. Eng. Data 2025.
  4. Fayfar, S.; Chahal, R.; Williams, H.; Gardner, D. N.; Zheng, G.; Sprouster, D.; Neuefeind, J. C.; Olds, D.; Hwang, A.; Mcfarlane, J.; Gallagher, R. C.; Asta, M.; Lam, S.; Scarlat, R. O.; Khaykovich, B. Complex Structure of Molten FLiBe (2 Li F – Be F 2 ) Examined by Experimental Neutron Scattering, X-Ray Scattering, and Deep-Neural-Network Based Molecular Dynamics. PRX Energy 2024, 3 (1), 013001. https://doi.org/10.1103/PRXEnergy.3.013001.

CONFERENCE PUBLICATIONS

  1. “Safety Analysis on Fission Induced Thermophysical Property Alterations of MCFR Fuel Salt.” D. Nathanael Gardner et al, ANS Winter Conference Paper 2025
  2. “Sources of Error in the Measurement of Thermophysical Properties of Molten Salts”, D. Nathanael Gardner et al, ANS Winter Conference Paper 2023
  3.  “Probing Speciation of Light Elements in Molten Salts by Electrochemistry, High Temperature Liquid NMR, and Neutron Diffraction” Williams, H., Gardner, D.N., Asta, M., Khaykovich, B., Vogel, S., Farnan, I., & Scarlat, R. O., , ANS Annual 2022. Anaheim, CA. June 12-16, 2022

CONFERENCE PRESENTATIONS

  1. D. Nathanael Gardner, et al, “Molten Chloride Fast Reactor Fuel Salt Redox Potential at Equilibrium.” The Minerals, Metals, and Materials Conference. March 2026
  2. D. Nathanael Gardner, et al, “Safety Analysis on Fission Induced Thermophysical Property Alterations of MCFR Fuel Salt.” American Nuclear Society Winter Conference. November 2025
  3. Nathanael Gardner, Raluca O. Scarlat, “Effect of fission products on the thermophysical properties of actinide containing chloride fuel salts.” American Chemical Society. August 2025
  4. Nathanael Gardner, et al, “Thermophysical Property Measurement of Uranium Containing Fluoride and Chloride Salts.” American Institute of Chemical Engineers. October 2024
  5. Nathanael Gardner, “Thermophysical Property Measurement of Molten Salts.” Poster, American Institute of Chemical Engineers. October 2024
  6. Nathanael Gardner et al, “Sources of Uncertainty in Thermophysical Properties Measurement.” American Nuclear Society Winter. November 2023
  7. Nathanael Gardner et al, “Thermophysical Properties of Actinide Containing Molten Salts.” Materials in Nuclear Energy Systems. December 2023
  8. Nathanael Gardner et al, “Solute Effects on Solid Li2BeF4 (FLiBe) Thermal Expansion.” American Chemical Society. August 2023
  9. Nathanael Gardner et al, “Probing Speciation of Light Elements in Molten Salts by Electrochemistry, High Temperature Liquid NMR, and Neutron Diffraction.” Molten Salt NEUP PI Meeting. April 2023
  10. Haley Williams, D. Nathanael Gardner, et al “Probing Speciation of Light Elements in Molten Salts by Electrochemistry, High Temperature Liquid NMR, and Neutron Diffraction. American Nuclear Society. June 2022