Crystallization kinetics study of cerium titanate CeTi2O6

• Crystallization of 30% Ce and 70% Ti mixture dominantly into CeTi2O6 is observed.
• A strong strain anisotropy is observed for CeTi2O6 particles.
• The activation energy of CeTi2O6-phase formation is estimated.

Cerium titanate CeTi2O6 has been investigated recently for its photocatalytic activity and as a safe analogue to actinide-containing brannerite-like titanates (UTi2O6, PuTi2O6, e.g.) which are intensively studied because of their use for storing nuclear waste. In this paper we report on the monoclinic phase CeTi2O6 obtained from the Ti–Ce oxide mixture prepared by a reverse micelles directed sol–gel method and subsequently annealed. The kinetics of the isothermal crystallization process is investigated by means of Johnson–Mehl–Avrami–Kolmogorov equation. The effective activation energy of the formation of CeTi2O6 particles, which is an important parameter for its synthesis, is estimated.