Thermal conductivity of strontium uranates

The thermal conductivity of Sr3UO6, Sr2UO5, Sr3U2O9, SrUO4, Sr2U3O11 and SrU4O12.8 uranates has been measured in the temperature range 300–1100 K using an axial heat flow comparative set up. The measured conductivity values of all these oxides are of the order of 3–1 W K−1 m−1 and are much less than that of UO2 over the entire temperature range of measurements. An increase of thermal conductivity with SrO/UO3 ratio is observed in these systems. The temperature dependence of the observed values of the thermal conductivity is explained using the mechanism for phonon mode of heat conduction.