CEA, DEN, Laboratoire Chimie et Conversion des Actinides, Marcoule/DRCP/SCPS, Bât 399, BP 17171, F-30207 Bagnols sur Cèze Cedex, France.
Dalton Trans. 2010 Mar 7;39(9):2254-62. doi: 10.1039/b919734f. Epub 2010 Jan 7.
Recent concepts for nuclear fuel and targets for transmuting long-lived radionuclides (minor actinides) and for the development of innovative Gen-IV nuclear fuel cycles imply fabricating host phases for actinide or mixed actinide compounds. Cubic stabilized zirconia (Zr, Y, Am)O(2-x) is one of the mixed phases tested in transmutation experiments. Wet chemical routes as an alternative to the powder metallurgy are being investigated to obtain the required phases while minimizing the handling of contaminating radioactive powder. Hydrolysis of zirconium, neodymium (a typical surrogate for americium) and yttrium in aqueous media in the presence of acetylacetone was firstly investigated. Progressive hydrolysis of zirconium acetylacetonate and sorption of trivalent cations and acacH on the zirconia particles led to a stable dispersion of nanoparticles (5-7 nm) in the 6-7 pH range. This sol gels with time or with temperature. The application to americium-containing solutions was then successfully tested: a stable sol was synthesized, characterized and used to prepare cubic stabilized zirconia (Zr, Y, Am)O(2-x).
最近的核燃料和长寿命放射性核素（次锕系元素）嬗变目标以及创新四代核能燃料循环的发展概念，都需要制造出容纳锕系或混合锕系化合物的宿主相。立方稳定氧化锆（Zr，Y，Am）O（2-x）是嬗变实验中测试的混合相之一。正在研究湿化学路线作为粉末冶金的替代方法，以获得所需的相，同时尽量减少放射性粉末的处理。首先研究了在乙酰丙酮存在下，水介质中锆、钕（典型的镅代用品）和钇的水解。锆乙酰丙酮的逐步水解以及三价阳离子和 acacH 在氧化锆颗粒上的吸附导致在 6-7 pH 范围内形成了纳米颗粒（5-7nm）的稳定分散体。该溶胶会随时间或温度而凝胶化。然后成功地测试了含镅溶液的应用：合成、表征了稳定的溶胶，并用于制备立方稳定氧化锆（Zr，Y，Am）O（2-x）。
