Stability of doped zirconia under extreme conditions: Toward long-term and secure storage of radioactive waste

Abstract

Extreme temperatures and pressures were applied to systems based on stabilized zirconia, ZrO2, doped with Ce4+ ions as surrogate for tetravalent Actinides in order to conclude on their long-term stability in deep geological underground. Both tetragonal and cubic yttrium-stabilized ZrO2 (YSZ) exhibit excellent phase and structural stabilities up to 1150 K. In addition, incorporated guest Ce4+ did not show any increase in their mobility at elevated temperatures. Application of external pressure did not induce any structural or phase changes in cubic YSZ doped with 5 at.% Ce as well. However, a corresponding tetragonal analog with lower yttrium content exhibits a second-order phase transition toward higher cubic symmetry around 9 GPa. Remarkably, no discharge of the guest Ce4+ ions was observed throughout the transition and further upon increase in pressure. This together with T-dependent data indicates excellent affinity of guest Ce atoms with the host YSZ matrices. The parent YSZ phases are, therefore, promising candidates as host materials for long-term underground immobilization for radiotoxic tetravalent elements like U, Th, or Pu.