Research of Structural, Strength and Thermal Properties of ZrO2—CeO2 Ceramics Doped with Yttrium

Abstract

In this work, using a mechanochemical solid-phase synthesis method, ZrO2—CeO2 ceramics doped with yttrium were obtained, which have great prospects for use as a basis for dispersed nuclear fuel materials or inert nuclear fuel matrices. The purpose of this work was to study the formation of the ZrO2—CeO2 phase composition, depending on the concentration of yttrium dopant, as well as to study their structural and strength properties. The relevance of this study is in obtaining new data on the properties of composite ceramics based on oxides having a cermet structure, as well as the effect of doping with yttrium on increasing the resistance of ceramics to deformation and thermal properties. During the studies, the dynamics of the phase transformations depending on the concentration of the dopant, as well as changes in the structural characteristics and dislocation density, were established. It was found that at a dopant concentration of 0.25 mol, the main phase in the structure was Ce3ZrO8–triclinic P1 (1), the formation of which led to an increase in the mechanical and strength properties of the ceramics as well as a 1.5-fold increase in the thermal conductivity coefficient. © 2022 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.