Actinide and lanthanide dioxide lattice dilatation mechanisms with defect ingrowths

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GÜNAY S. D.

Journal of the American Ceramic Society, vol.106, no.6, pp.3895-3910, 2023 (SCI-Expanded) identifier identifier identifier

  • Publication Type: Article / Article
  • Volume: 106 Issue: 6
  • Publication Date: 2023
  • Doi Number: 10.1111/jace.19020
  • Journal Name: Journal of the American Ceramic Society
  • Journal Indexes: Science Citation Index Expanded (SCI-EXPANDED), Scopus, Academic Search Premier, Periodicals Index Online, Aerospace Database, Applied Science & Technology Source, Art Source, Chemical Abstracts Core, Chimica, Communication Abstracts, Compendex, Computer & Applied Sciences, EBSCO Education Source, INSPEC, Metadex, Civil Engineering Abstracts
  • Page Numbers: pp.3895-3910
  • Keywords: actinide dioxide, alpha-particle, defect, lanthanide dioxide, lattice dilatation, swelling
  • Yıldız Technical University Affiliated: Yes

Abstract

The effects of irradiation-induced defects on the fluorite-structured dioxide materials were investigated in the literature and explained with complex physical phenomena. An interpretation that can simply explain their effects on the structure has not been put forward so far. However, in a recent atomistic simulation study, a specific defect was found to be directly responsible for the α-particle irradiated UO2 lattice dilatation, and there was a linear relationship between them. It was also determined that this linear equation has two different slopes at low and high defect concentrations. In this paper, it was found that these phenomenon were not specific to UO2 and applicable to all fluorite-structured actinide and lanthanide dioxides studied here (CmO2, AmO2, CeO2, UO2, NpO2, PuO2, ThO2). The findings provide clues to the existence of more general law. The results have the potential to lead to significant improvements, such as why different radiation types (α-particle, α-decay, fission) swell the lattice at different saturation levels.