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Study of the Morphological and Structural Features of Inert Matrices Based on ZrO2–CeO2 Doped with Y2O3 and the Effect of Grain Sizes on the Strength Properties of Ceramics

This article is devoted to the study of the mechanical and strength properties of Y2O3-doped ZrO2–CeO2 composite ceramics. The choice of these ceramics is due to their prospects in the field of nuclear energy, structural materials and as the basis for materials of dispersed nuclear fuel inert matrices. The choice as objects for research is due to their physicochemical, insulating and strength properties, the combination of which makes it possible to create one of the promising types of composite ceramics with high resistance to external influences, high mechanical pressures and crack resistance. The method of mechanochemical synthesis followed by thermal annealing of the samples at a temperature of 1500 °C; was used as a preparation method; to study the effect of Y22O3 doping, scanning electron microscopy methods were used to determine morphological features. The X-ray diffraction method was applied to determine the structural features and phase composition. The mechanical methods of microindentation and single compression for determination were applied to determine the strength characteristics. During the tests, it was found that the most resistant materials to external mechanical influences, and thermal heating for a long time of testing, are ceramics, in which the CeZrO4 phase dominates. At the same time, the strengthening of ceramics and an increase in crack resistance is due to a change in the phase composition and to a decrease in the grain size, leading to the formation of a large dislocation density, and, consequently, the appearance of the dislocation strengthening effect. The relevance and novelty of this study lies in obtaining new types of ceramic materials for inert matrices of nuclear fuel, studying their morphological, structural, strength and thermophysical properties, as well as assessing their resistance to external influences during prolonged thermal heating. The results obtained can later be used as fundamental knowledge in assessing the prospects for the use of oxide ceramics as nuclear materials.