Abstract
Tubes of four zirconium alloys, used as cladding materials in light water nuclear reactors, were oxidized in an autoclave to produce oxide layers 1, 2 and 9 μm thick. The reflectance of the tubes was measured using a UV-vis-NIR spectrophotometer equipped with an integrating sphere detector. The 1 and 2 μm oxide tubes had a black appearance and a reflectance of only 10-12% in the visible region, whereas a dark grey appearing 9 μm oxide tube had 13-17% reflectance. The low reflectance was interpreted in terms of localized surface plasmon resonance in metallic particles embedded in the oxide layer, having a mean size of 40-70 nm.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 79-83 |
| Number of pages | 5 |
| Journal | Journal of Nuclear Materials |
| Volume | 400 |
| Issue number | 1 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - May 1 2010 |
| Externally published | Yes |
Funding
The SPP size distributions were measured by Sorina Ciurea at Sandvik Materials Technology. Financial support was received from Sandvik AB, Westinghouse Electric Sweden AB, Vattenfall Bränsle AB, OKG AB and the Swedish Radiation Protection Agency. One of us (C.L.) also acknowledges financial support from the “Multifunctional photoactive nanoparticles, nanoparticle arrays and nanoarchitectures” (PhotoNano) program of the Swedish Foundation for Strategic Research (SSF).