This study describes the fabrication and characterisation of Pu0.5Am0.5O2-x-MgO Cercer composites with 20 and 30vol% of Pu0.5Am0.5O2-x. The Pu0.5Am0.5O2-x content was found to result in a change in the reduction behaviour in the composites when exposed to a reducing sintering cycle. This phenomenon could be explained by the percolation theory when applied to the oxygen diffusivity in a randomly distributed binary system. The composites were studied by combined XRD and O/M ratio measurements. Both composites exhibit various amount of bcc and fcc phases which correspond to different reduction states in the mixed actinides compound. It was found that a critical volume fraction of Pu0.5Am0.5O2-x in the composite exists resulting in an increase of the reduction of this latter compound.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.