Anisotropy of local electrical conductivity of hyper-stoichiometric uranium dioxide revealed by current-sensing atomic force microscopy (CS-AFM)статья
Статья опубликована в высокорейтинговом журнале
Информация о цитировании статьи получена из
Web of Science,
Scopus
Статья опубликована в журнале из списка Web of Science и/или Scopus
Дата последнего поиска статьи во внешних источниках: 7 ноября 2016 г.
Аннотация:The local electrical conductivity and chemical composition of hyper-stoichiometric uranium dioxide were studied using localized Raman and current-sensing AFM techniques. Distinct types of surface features, representative of either stoichiometric or hyper-stoichiometric uranium dioxide, and remarkably different in their electrical conductivity, were identified. Stoichiometric UO2 formed smooth featureless grains and showed little or no electrical conductivity, while considerably more conducting hyper-stoichiometric UO2+x formed characteristic ridges and/or facetted structures. Surprisingly, such hyper-stoichiometric regions also showed anisotropic electrical conductivity and combined relatively non-conducting flat terraces with a highly conducting inclined facets. Our CS-AFM measurements clearly indicate that the highly conducting grain boundaries, as well as facetted grains and grain regions, are the prime locations for local corrosion. (c) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.