A novel gel combustion procedure for the preparation of foam and porous pellets of UO2

Abstract In this study, it has been demonstrated for the first time how sucrose gel-combustion could be used for the preparation of UO2 foam. Further the citrate gel-combustion was gainfully used for preparing porous pellets of UO2. The utility of two-step sintering (1073 K for 30 min and 1473 K for 4 h) for obtaining these porous bodies was demonstrated for the first time. The foams and pellets possessed meso and macro pores. A starting mixture with sucrose to nitrate ratio of 2.4 was found to yield urania foam with adequate crush strength. The porous pellets were found to possess better handling strength, lesser carbon residue and higher overall density than the foam. A citric acid to nitrate ratio 0.25 in the starting mixture, 180 MPa compaction pressure were optimal for obtaining a pellet with 40% porosity.