FTIR spectroscopy and sorption of water vapour as methods of identification of hydrated zirconium dioxide on a corrosion layer of zirconium alloy

For identification of the hydrated surface of a corrosion layer of ZrO2 formed on Zr alloys in the environment simulated the environment of a nuclear reactor, Fourier transform infra-red (FTIR) spectroscopy, Raman spectroscopy and water vapour sorption were used. Predicating ability of these methods has been verified on samples of gel coating layers produced by sol–gel synthesis, on a sample of the gel as a monolith and on powdery ZrO2, and applied to samples after exposition in autoclave at the temperature 633 K and the pressure ∼19 MPa.