An interesting oxidation-reduction phenomenon between the Zr(Cr,Fe)2 Laves phase and Cr2O3 under high temperature

Studying Zr(Cr, Fe)2 Laves phase oxidation is vital for deepening our understanding of the oxidation mechanism of accident tolerant fuel (ATF) Cr-coated Zr and Zr-based alloys. Here, an interesting oxidation phenomenon of Zr (Cr, Fe)2 Laves phase was confirmed for the first time. Meanwhile, this oxidation was accompanied by the Cr2O3 reduction. The lattice oxygen was transferred from Cr2O3 to Zr(Cr, Fe)2 Laves phases, and Cr2O3 was transformed into Cr while Zr(Cr, Fe)2 was oxidized into m-ZrO2, Cr and Fe. The reaction Gibbs Free energy (triangle rG Theta m) value is around-980 kJ/mol without considering Fe, which verifies the feasibility of this interesting oxidation-reduction phenomenon.