Preparation of ZrO2/Gd2O3 composite ceramic materials by coprecipitation method

High burnup is a goal for further development of advanced nuclear power in the future. However, along with the increase of burnup, it becomes more diffidult to control reactor reactivity, which affects the operation safety of the nuclear reactor. Al2O3/B4C burnable poison materials widely used in pressurized water reactor currently will not meet the requirements of burnable poison materials in high burnup nuclear power. Because of the better performance of ZrO2/Gd2O3 burnable poison materials than that of Al2O3/B4C, this paper studies the preparation of ZrO2/Gd2O3 composite ceramic materials by the coprecipitation method. The experimental results show that at the sintering temperature of 1500–1650 °C, ZrO2/Gd2O3 composite ceramic grains are small, compact and uniform with the generation of homogeneous solid solution. At 1600 °C, ZrO2–10%Gd2O3 has the highest density and mechanical strength.