Roughly half of the elements heavier than iron found in nature are produced by the rapid neutron-capture process (aka r-process). The sequential neutron captures and beta-decays driving the r-process path proceed through the neutron-rich region of the nuclear chart, synthesizing exotic, short-lived nuclei whose properties are typically unknown. Increasing experimental efforts are currently underway to measure the properties of these neutron-rich nuclei, but theoretical estimations remain the cornerstone of nuclear reaction network calculations.
In this talk, I will present recent calculations of nuclear-structure properties, including masses, fission properties, and beta-decay half-lives, of r-process nuclei, and discuss their impact on r-process abundances and the kilonova light curves produced by binary neutron-star mergers.