Supplementary information files for "Field-assisted processing of Ce–zirconolite ceramics for nuclear applications"

Supplementary files for article "Field-assisted processing of Ce–zirconolite ceramics fornuclear applications"<br><br>Conventional, flash, and hybrid sintering (unique combination of conventional and microwave heating) experiments were performed on 10% Ce-doped zirconolite samples and the results were compared. Ce–zirconolite was prepared using reactive, pressure-less, field-assisted hybrid processing directly from the precursor made using commercial chemical agents, viz., CaTiO₃, ZrO₂, TiO₂, and CeO₂ at 1350°C/2 h. For comparison, Ce–zirconolite ceramics were produced by the conventional synthesis at 1350°C/72 h and then sintering at 1450°C/10 h based on a literature methodology. The Ce–zirconolite samples were also flash sintered for the first time at 1100°C in just 5 min with the application of an AC field to ∼98% density with a finer grain size. A novel reactive flash synthesis procedure of zirconolite precursors with subsequent flash sintering was also explored. The flash process for both synthesis/sintering needs only ∼15% of the energy (85% savings) and hybrid method requires ∼ 33% (67% savings) of the total energy, respectively, when compared to the values reported for conventional synthesis and sintering processes together for zirconolite manufacturing. Thus, both the field-assisted processing techniques were found to be highly energy efficient for the fabrication of Ce-zirconolite ceramics, making them suitable for applications in Plutonium-based nuclear waste disposal.<br><br>© The Author(s), CC BY 4.0