| About this Abstract |
| Meeting |
2025 TMS Annual Meeting & Exhibition
|
| Symposium
|
Microstructural, Mechanical, and Chemical Behavior of Solid Nuclear Fuel and Fuel-Cladding Interface II
|
| Presentation Title |
Polyepitaxial Approach to Studying Topotactic Phase Transitions in Actinides |
| Author(s) |
Jacek Wasik |
| On-Site Speaker (Planned) |
Jacek Wasik |
| Abstract Scope |
Understanding crystal phase transformations is essential for various manufacturing processes, material synthesis routes, and degradation mechanisms. These transformations involve changes in symmetry, bond lengths, and valency, with the lowest energy pathways often being difficult to identify. Here, we highlight a cutting-edge synthesis route for the controlled engineering of grain structures in thin films, simplifying associated three-dimensional problems to less complex two-dimensional ones. This approach has been applied to the actinide ceramic, uranium dioxide, to replicate structures typical in nuclear fission fuel pellets, enabling the investigation of the oxidation and subsequent transformation of cubic UO2 to orthorhombic U3O8. This method allows the simultaneous study of multiple crystal planes and reveals a reversible topotactic transformation from (001) UO2 to (130) U3O8. |
| Proceedings Inclusion? |
Planned: |
| Keywords |
Nuclear Materials, Phase Transformations, Thin Films and Interfaces |