Thoria doped with cations of group VB–synthesis and sintering

The cations M⁵⁺ (M=V, Nb and Ta) were doped in thoria through gel-combustion synthesis using citric acid as fuel. Thorium dioxide feed powders thus prepared were cold compacted without binder or lubricant and sintered to a high density (9.5 Mg m⁻³) at relatively low temperatures (1623 K). The powders were characterised for the residual carbon, crystallite size, specific surface area, particle size distribution and bulk density. The distribution of the dopant in the thoria matrix was analyzed by electron probe microanalysis. The reactivity of the calcined powders was determined by measuring the density of the sintered compacts prepared from them. For the first time it is demonstrated that apart from niobia, even tantala and vanadia can bring about accelerated sintering in thoria if they are doped through a wet chemical route viz., the gel-combustion procedure. The maximum densities obtained by doping with vanadia (0.02 mol%), niobia (0.50 mol%) and tantala (0.50 mol%) were 9.8 Mg m⁻³ (1573 K), 9.68 Mg m⁻³ (1423 K) and 9.69 Mg m⁻³ (1623 K), respectively.