Preparation of Y2Ti2O7 pyrochlore glass-ceramics as potential waste forms for actinides: the effects of processing conditions

Abstract

Glass-Y2Ti2O7 pyrochlore was fabricated by sintering the mixture of glass precursor powder and (YTi)-composite which was prepared by a soft chemistry route. X-ray diffraction and Raman spectroscopy confirmed that the phase pure pyrochlore was crystallized in-situ in amorphous glass matrix at 1200 °C with dwelling time over 1 h. Pyrochlore was formed in glass matrix with cooling rate ∼0.1–40 °C/min, and independent of addition of alkali/alkaline earth fluorides. Glass matrix was able to accommodate/dissolve small amounts of impurities and the mean pyrochlore particle size was between 1 and 2 μm in glass observed by scanning electron microscopy. © 2017 Elsevier B.V.