Nicole Rodriguez Perez

Profile Information
Name
Miss Nicole Rodriguez Perez
Institution
Purdue University
Position
Research Assistant
Affiliation
Purdue University
h-Index
1
ORCID
0000-0002-8958-9864
Expertise
Focused Ion Beam Scanning Electron Microscopy (FIB SEM), Image Processing, Irradiated Fuels, Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), Scanning Transmission Electron Microscopy (STEM), Serial Sectioning
Publications:
"3-D reconstruction and microstructural characterization of neutron-irradiated U-10Zr fuel using FIB-SEM serial sectioning" Nicole Rodriguez Perez, Jonova Thomas, Daniel Murray, Maria Okuniewski, MRS Advances Vol. 8 2023 14-20 Link
Focused ion beam-scanning electron microscopy serial sectioning was applied to characterize the three-dimensional (3-D) porosity and phase regions of a neutron-irradiated U-10 wt% Zr fuel. The specimen was removed from an intermediate radial region of a fuel pin irradiated to 5.7 at.% burn-up. Backscattered electron imaging and energy-dispersive spectroscopy were performed on each serial section, allowing for the characterization of microstructural morphology and composition. Porosity size followed a lognormal distribution, ranging from 1.46 × 10–4 to 25.58 μm3 with a total porosity volume fraction of 13.02%. Distinctive microstructural regions were identified by composition and porosity: (1) a Zr-rich region with an average composition of 28.4 wt% Zr and a local porosity fraction of 6.88%, and (2) a U-rich region with an average composition of 97.0 wt% U and a local porosity fraction of 14.11%; subdivided into U-rich—high porosity (16.68%) and U-rich—low porosity (8.04%) regions. The detailed 3-D compositional and porosity regions can improve nuclear fuel performance codes.
"Microstructural analysis of a Zr rich specimen from the central radial region of a neutron irradiated U-10Zr fuel" Nicole Rodriguez Perez, Jonova Thomas, Maria Okuniewski, Transactions of the American Nuclear Society Vol. 128 2023 376-379 Link
Presentations:
"Fission product distribution analysis in Zr lined U-Mo fuels using transmission electron microscopy and atom probe tomography" Nicole Rodriguez Perez, Sobhan Patnaik, shehab shousha, Mukesh Bachhav, Luca Capriotti, Benjamin Beeler, Geoffrey Beausoleil, Maria Okuniewski, TMS 2025 Annual Meeting March 23-27, (2025)
"Localized Composition of Constituent Redistribution Regions in a Neutron Irradiated U-10wt.%Zr Fuel" Nicole Rodriguez Perez, Jonova Thomas, Maria Okuniewski, Materials in Nuclear Energy Systems (MiNES 2023) December 10-14, (2023)
"Microstructural analysis of a Zr rich specimen from the central radial region of a neutron irradiated U-10Zr fuel" Nicole Rodriguez Perez, Jonova Thomas, Maria Okuniewski, 2023 American Nuclear Society annual meeting (ANS 2023) June 11-14, (2023)