A new approach for impregnation of Cs into zirconia microsphere matrix

Abstract

The immobilization of cesium elements in cubic zirconia ceramic matrix is essential for studying fission product release and spent fuel reprocessing. However, existing loading methods suffer from uneven distribution and low loading of cesium elements. This paper presents an improved impregnation adsorption method that uses wet gel microspheres with a three-dimensional porous gel network to absorb cesium nitrate efficiently. The wet gel microspheres were calcined at 400 °C. Yttrium-stabilized cubic zirconia microspheres with 17.8 wt% cesium elements loading and 0% cracking rate were obtained. The adsorption process and uniform distribution of cesium elements were investigated by FTIR, Raman, TG-DSC, SEM, and TEM. The results showed that the improved impregnation adsorption method could achieve uniform high cesium elements loading in cubic phase yttrium-stabilized zirconia microspheres, promising for nuclear fuel waste reprocessing.