Abstract:
The article is dedicated to the study of the phase formation processes in Li2ZrO3 ceramics
obtained by the method of solid phase synthesis. Interest in these types of ceramics is due to their great
potential for use as blanket materials in thermonuclear reactors, as well as being one of the candidates
for tritium breeder materials. Analysis of the morphological features of the synthesized ceramics
depending on the annealing temperature showed that the average grain size is 90–110 nm; meanwhile
the degree of homogeneity is more than 90% according to electronic image data processing results.
The temperature dependences of changes in the structural and conducting characteristics, as well as
the phase transformation dynamics, have been established. It has been determined that a change in
the phase composition by displacing the impurity LiO and ZrO2 phases results in the compaction of
ceramics, as well as a decrease in their porosity. These structural changes are due to the displacement
of LiO and ZrO2
impurity phases from the ceramic structure and their transformation into the
Li2ZrO3 phase. During research, the following phase transformations that directly depend on the
annealing temperature were established: LiO/ZrO2/Li2ZrO3 → LiO/Li2ZrO3 → Li2ZrO3
. During
analysis of the obtained current-voltage characteristics, depending on the annealing temperature, it
was discovered that the formation of the Li2ZrO3 ordered phase in the structure results in a rise in
resistance by three orders of magnitude, which indicates the dielectric nature of the ceramics.
