Preparation and properties of Gd2O3–Eu2O3–ZrO2 ceramics as promising control rod material

Abstract

Gray control rods enable the safe operation of nuclear reactors by controlling and adjusting nuclear reactivity, in which neutron-absorbing materials with low reactive worth loss play an important role. In this work, new types of Gd2O3–Eu2O3–ZrO2 ceramics used as neutron absorbers are successfully prepared by simple thermal decomposition following the air sintering method. The cross-sectional SEM images and density curves of ceramics are analyzed, and the ceramic with a content of 85 wt% Eu2O3 sintered at 1500 °C presents a higher density (7.193 g/cm3) than other samples. When the content of Eu2O3 is 70 wt%, the Vickers hardness of the sintered ceramic is 4.89 GPa, which is higher than 4.01 GPa of Eu2O3 (sintered at 1500 °C). This material, which is easy to prepare and has good properties, is regarded as a potential reactor control rod material.