High-Temperature Mechanical Characterization of CeO2 as a Ceramic Surrogate Fuel Based on FIB and Nanoindentation

Si, Jiaxuan; Xu, Jiajun; He, Shiqiang; Xie, Dongsheng; Dong, Changfeng; Zhu, Pengcheng; Qiu, Risheng

doi:10.3390/ma19102134

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High-Temperature Mechanical Characterization of CeO₂ as a Ceramic Surrogate Fuel Based on FIB and Nanoindentation

by

Jiaxuan Si

¹,

Jiajun Xu

²,

Shiqiang He

²,

Dongsheng Xie

¹,

Changfeng Dong

¹,

Pengcheng Zhu

¹

and

Risheng Qiu

^2,*

¹

The First Sub-Institute, Nuclear Power Institute of China, Chengdu 610041, China

²

International Joint Laboratory for Light Alloys (MOE), College of Materials Science and Engineering, Chongqing University, Chongqing 400044, China

^*

Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.

Materials 2026, 19(10), 2134; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma19102134

Submission received: 16 April 2026 / Revised: 11 May 2026 / Accepted: 16 May 2026 / Published: 19 May 2026

(This article belongs to the Topic Advanced Energy Materials, Devices, and Intelligent Battery Management Systems)

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Abstract

CeO₂ is widely used as a non-radioactive surrogate for UO₂ because of its fluorite crystal structure and similar thermophysical characteristics. In this study, an FIB-assisted specimen preparation route combined with high-temperature nanoindentation was used to evaluate the micromechanical behavior of CeO₂ from room temperature to 400 °C. Hardness and Young’s modulus were experimentally measured at room temperature, 100 °C, 200 °C, 300 °C, and 400 °C. The load–displacement curves were smooth, and no obvious pop-in events were observed within the tested load range. From 100 °C to 400 °C, both Young’s modulus and hardness decreased approximately linearly with increasing temperature, and linear fitting was used to describe their temperature dependence. The measured Young’s modulus decreased from 191.3 ± 14.0 GPa at 100 °C to 136.7 ± 9.5 GPa at 400 °C, while the hardness decreased from 6.79 ± 0.58 GPa to 5.08 ± 0.48 GPa. The obtained temperature-dependent trend is consistent with previously reported high-temperature nanoindentation data for fluorite-structured oxides. These results provide useful micromechanical data and methodological support for elevated-temperature small-scale mechanical characterization of ceramic nuclear fuel surrogate materials.

Keywords: nuclear fuel; ceramic oxide; high-temperature nanoindentation; mechanical properties

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MDPI and ACS Style

Si, J.; Xu, J.; He, S.; Xie, D.; Dong, C.; Zhu, P.; Qiu, R. High-Temperature Mechanical Characterization of CeO₂ as a Ceramic Surrogate Fuel Based on FIB and Nanoindentation. Materials 2026, 19, 2134. https://doi.org/10.3390/ma19102134

AMA Style

Si J, Xu J, He S, Xie D, Dong C, Zhu P, Qiu R. High-Temperature Mechanical Characterization of CeO₂ as a Ceramic Surrogate Fuel Based on FIB and Nanoindentation. Materials. 2026; 19(10):2134. https://doi.org/10.3390/ma19102134

Chicago/Turabian Style

Si, Jiaxuan, Jiajun Xu, Shiqiang He, Dongsheng Xie, Changfeng Dong, Pengcheng Zhu, and Risheng Qiu. 2026. "High-Temperature Mechanical Characterization of CeO₂ as a Ceramic Surrogate Fuel Based on FIB and Nanoindentation" Materials 19, no. 10: 2134. https://doi.org/10.3390/ma19102134

APA Style

Si, J., Xu, J., He, S., Xie, D., Dong, C., Zhu, P., & Qiu, R. (2026). High-Temperature Mechanical Characterization of CeO₂ as a Ceramic Surrogate Fuel Based on FIB and Nanoindentation. Materials, 19(10), 2134. https://doi.org/10.3390/ma19102134

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High-Temperature Mechanical Characterization of CeO₂ as a Ceramic Surrogate Fuel Based on FIB and Nanoindentation

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