Engineering Multicomposite Ceramic Systems with Improved Thermal Insulation and γ-Ray Shielding Performance

Аңдатпа

The article presents the results of complex studies of the assessment of alterations in thermal insulation and shielding characteristics in 1- x(TeO₂ – CeO₂ – WO₃ – ZnO₂ – Bi₂O₃) – xZrO₂ ceramics with variations in the ratio of components during their sintering, which leads to a change in the phase composition. It is determined that the addition of zirconium dioxide to the composition of the main TeO₂ – CeO₂ – WO₃ – ZnO₂ – Bi₂O₃ matrix leads to the formation of a monoclinic phase ZrCeO₂, the increase in the contribution of which is directly proportional to the observed hardening effect, expressed in an elevation in hardness and bending strength. Thermal insulation properties of composite 1- x(TeO₂ – CeO₂ – WO₃ – ZnO₂ – Bi₂O₃) – xZrO₂ ceramics were studied depending on the variation of the zirconium dioxide component in the composition, the addition of which changes the strength and thermal insulation properties. During the experiments, it was established that a growth in the monoclinic ZrCeO₂ substitution phase in the composition of ceramics leads to a rise in the difference in temperatures on the front and back sides, which indicates an enhancement in thermal insulation properties, a growth in the temperature difference, which is due to the low thermal conductivity of zirconium dioxide. A general analysis of the shielding characteristics showed a positive effect of the formation of the ZrCeO₂ phase on the shielding efficiency, allowing the absorption capacity of ceramics to be increased by 10 – 15 %, while the resulting ceramics have high strength and thermal insulation properties.