Journal of the American Ceramic Society, Vol.93, No.10, 3464-3473, 2010
Crystal Chemistry and Structures of (Ca,U) Titanate Pyrochlores
Analysis of multiphase (Ca,U) titanate pyrochlore samples produced under argon or in air, using laboratory X-ray powder diffraction (XRD) and electron microscopy revealed discrete pyrochlore phase compositions, together with either perovskite or rutile impurities. Investigations of these samples using diffuse reflectance and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopies revealed mixed U4+/U5+ oxidation states for argon-annealed samples and U5+/U6+ oxidation states for air-annealed samples. Single-phase (Ca(1.25)U4+(0.25)U5+(0.50))Ti(2)O(7) (argon) and (Ca(1.40)U5+(0.60))(Ti(1.90)U6+(0.10))O(7) (air) compositions were synthesized and characterized using a combination of synchrotron X-ray and neutron powder diffraction. Severe intensity reduction of hkl odd XRD peaks from the sample produced in air was found to be the result of U6+ sharing the Ti site. The refined crystal structures for both single-phase samples were found to be consistent with the compositions and mixed oxidation states observed by the above spectroscopic measurements. Although the normalized uranium leach rate of the argon-annealed sample was found to be approximately twice that of the air-annealed sample, in 7-day Product Consistency Test the durability of both compounds with respect to leaching by water was found to be excellent. Ca releases were in the range of 0.01-0.03 g/L and U releases were < 3 x 10-5 g/L.