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Heavy Ion Irradiation of Brannerite-type Ceramics
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 21 March 2011
Abstract
Brannerite, UTi2O6, occurs in polyphase Ti-based, crystalline ceramics that are under development for plutonium immobilization. In order to investigate radiation effects caused by α- decay events of Pu, several brannerite compositions were synthesized: UTi2O6, ThTi2O6, CeTi2O6 and a more complex material, which is composed of Ca-containing brannerite and pyrochlore. An 1 MeV Kr+ irradiation was performed over a temperature range of 25 K to 1020 K with in-situ TEM. The ion irradiation-induced crystalline-to-amorphous transformation was observed in all brannerite samples. At room temperature, the critical amorphization dose, Dc, resulting from Kr+ ion irradiation increases in the order: Dc (CeTi2O6) < Dc (ThTi2O6) < Dc (Ca- containing brannerite) < Dc (UTi2O6) < Dc (Ca-containing pyrochlore). The critical amorphization dose for stoichoimetric brannerite increases at elevated temperature due to the effect of thermal annealing. The critical amorphization temperatures of the different brannerite compositions are: 970 K, UTi2O6; 990 K, ThTi2O6; 1020 K, CeTi2O6. The effects of structure and chemical composition on radiation resistance of brannerite-type and pyrochlore-type ceramics are discussed.
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- Copyright © Materials Research Society 2001
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