Study of antioxidation behavior of ultra-thin films for Ce metal surface protection with atomic layer deposition upon air exposure

Cerium (Ce) is an easily oxidized metal and the surface oxide layer will break into powders in a few days in air, which is extremely similar to actinide metals like thorium, uranium. To protect the surface of Ce, different ultra -thin films including Al2O3, TiO2, TiN and ZrO2 were deposited on the surface of Ce samples using atomic layer deposition (ALD). All these films decreased the Ce surface oxidation for one month. The Al2O3 film grown by ALD provided best antioxidation effect for 70 days of air exposure. This work shows the potential of ALD in the application of surface antioxidation for actinide metals in the aspect of short time (one month) storage.

Automated summary

This study demonstrates the potential of atomic layer deposition (ALD) in reducing the surface oxidation of cerium (Ce), particularly with the use of ultra-thin films such as Al2O3, in short-term storage. The Al2O3 film grown by ALD shows the best antioxidation effect after 70 days of air exposure. This finding is important for the storage of actinide metals.