Fabrication of Uniform Ce/Eu Oxide Microparticles by a Microfluidic Co-Sol-Gel Process as an Analog Preparation of MA-Bearing Ceramic Nuclear Fuel Particles

• Published in: Nuclear science and engineering Vol. 181; no. 2; pp. 216 - 224
• Main Authors: Yang, Ya-Ting, Li, Xiang, Fu, Cao-Fei, Song, Tong, Chang, Zhen-Qi, Meng, Da-Qiao, Serra, Christophe A.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Taylor & Francis 01.10.2015; Academic Press
• Subjects: Chemical and Process Engineering; Cubic lattice; Engineering Sciences; Microfluidics; Microspheres; Nuclear fuels; Oxides; Radioactive waste; Sol gel process; Thermal properties
• ISSN: 0029-5639; 1943-748X
• DOI: 10.13182/NSE14-117

The transmutation concept of minor actinide (MA)-bearing nuclear fuel plays an important role in managing highly radioactive waste. A facile route combining the sol-gel process and microfluidic technology was presented to fabricate Ce/Eu oxide microspheres as a surrogate for plutonium-based MA-bearing nuclear fuel. Uniform Ce/Eu oxide microspheres with a varied Eu content (7.90%, 13.00%, and 17.56%) were successfully fabricated using the co-sol-gel method. The prepared microspheres had a narrow size distribution (coefficient of variance < 2%) and excellent sphericity (d max /d min < 1.09). The Ce and Eu elements were shown to have a relatively homogeneous distribution in the microspheres through energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy mapping images. Thermal behavior analysis, microstructure observation, and crystalline structure analysis were conducted systematically. The X-ray diffraction patterns showed one cubic lattice structure for all of the samples.