One of the promising candidates for accident-tolerant fuel (ATF), a ceramic microcell fuel, which can be distinguished by an unusual cell-like microstructure (UO₂ grain cell surrounded by a doped oxide cell wall), is being developed. This study deals with the microstructural observation of the constituent phases and the wetting behaviors of the cell wall materials in three kinds of ceramic microcell UO₂ pellets: Si-Ti-O (STO), Si-Cr-O (SCO), and Al-Si-Ti-O (ASTO). The chemical and physical states of the cell wall materials are estimated by HSC Chemistry and confirmed by experiment to be mixtures of Si-O and Ti-O for the STO; Si-O and Cr-O for SCO; and Si-O, Ti-O, and Al-Si-O for the ASTO. From their morphology at triple junctions, UO₂ grains appear to be wet by the Si-O or Al-Si-O rather than other oxides, providing a benefit on the capture-ability of the ceramic microcell cell wall. The wetting behavior can be explained by the relationships between the interface energy and the contact angle.

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• Thermal diffusion kinetics of cesium in ceramic microcell UO2 fuels for accident-tolerant fuel
  Sang-Chae Jeon, Dong-Joo Kim, Dong Seok Kim, Jae-Hwan Yang, Kyoung-Seok Moon
  Journal of the European Ceramic Society.2021; 41(13): 6784.     CrossRef
• Compositional design of an amphoteric chemical trap for the capturing of gaseous cesium and iodine in UO2 nuclear fuel
  Sang-Chae Jeon, Dong-Joo Kim, Dong Seok Kim, Jae-Hwan Yang, Kyoung-Seok Moon
  Journal of the European Ceramic Society.2021; 41(4): 2892.     CrossRef