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 Al 2 O 3 , TiO 2 , TiN and ZrO 2 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 Al 2 O 3 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. • The Ce metal surfaces are protected with ultra-thin films of Al 2 O 3 , TiO 2 , TiN and ZrO 2 by atomic layer deposition (ALD). • The Al 2 O 3 film provided best antioxidation protection after 70 days of air exposure. • ALD can be used for antioxidation of actinide metals surface in the aspect of short time (one month) storage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]