High-temperature stability of ion-implanted zirconia and spinel

Abstract

This paper reports a study of the high-temperature stability of ion-implanted yttria-stabilized zirconia and magnesium aluminate spinel, which are foreseen as matrices for the transmutation of nuclear waste. Stable analogs of radiotoxic fission products (Cs) were implanted into both materials and the stability of the implanted systems was studied upon annealing at a high temperature. Rutherford backscattering spectrometry experiments with a macro- and a micro-ion-beam, scanning electron microscopy, and atomic force microscopy observations show that the annealing behavior strongly depends on the material. In zirconia Cs begins to desorb out of the crystal at 550°C in samples which remain homogeneous. On the contrary, the desorption of Cs is observed at 850°C in spinel by the exfoliation of the surface of the samples.

Radiation effects in cubic zirconia: A model system for ceramic oxides

“…The same behavior is observed in CZ irradiated with a large variety of low energy ions [13], leading to the conclusion that the number of dpa is the key parameter for the evolution of the damage buildup in the nuclear collision regime. Similar results are also obtained in other non-amorphizable ceramics (for instance spinel and uranium dioxide) irradiated at low energy [21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28].…”

Use of channeling for the study of radiation effects in nuclear materials

“…Multi-step damage accumulation processes were also reported for other non-amorphizable (for instance spinel, magnesium oxide and uranium dioxide) and amorphizable (for instance titanate pyrochlores) nuclear materials irradiated with low-energy ions [27][28][29][30][31][32][33]. In all cases, the dose in dpa (/ 2 ) at which starts the second step of damage accumulation is a parameter which reflects the stability of materials upon ion irradiation: the highest / 2 , the greatest resistance to disordering or amorphization.…”

XRD contribution to the study of Cs-implanted cubic zirconia

“…These results clearly emphasize the importance to study the behaviour of Cs-implanted into YSZ and the associated structural damage, in order to definitely assess the qualification of this material as IMF. Our group thoroughly aims to investigate this issue [3,8,9]. Very recently, we presented an extensive study concerning the microstructural evolution, examined by means of Rutherford Backscattering Spectrometry and Channelling (RBS/C) and Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM), of Cs-implanted YSZ as a function of fluence and temperature [10].…”