Study on Compatibility Between Silicon Carbide and Solid Breeding Materials Under Neutron Irradiation
Fusion Science and Technology / Volume 60 / Number 1 / July 2011 / Pages 288-291
In-Vessel Components - FW, Blanket, Shield & VV / Proceedings of the Nineteenth Topical Meeting on the Technology of Fusion Energy (TOFE) (Part 1) / dx.doi.org/10.13182/FST11-A12367
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Compatibility of monolithic silicon carbide (SiC) with ternary lithium ceramics (Li1-xAlO2-y, Li2-xTiO3-y, Li2-xZrO3-y and Li4-xSiO4-y) under irradiation of neutrons at high temperatures was studied. Disk samples of SiC in contact with sintered ternary lithium ceramics were irradiated in High Flux Isotope Reactor (HFIR) at 800 °C to 5.9 displacements per atom (dpa). Chemical reactions of SiC as determined by appearance of the surface were relatively less significant for the systems of SiC/Li1-xAlO2-y and SiC/Li2-xTiO3-y, whereas some bonding likely due to chemical reaction between SiC and the lithium ceramics and broken samples were observed in the systems of SiC/Li2-xZrO3-y and SiC/Li4-xSiO4-y. The effect of lithium burnup due to the (n, 
) nuclear reaction was also examined by using samples of lithium ceramics whose lithium ratio was hypo-stoichiometric in the fabrication process. More reaction products were observed on the surface of 
-SiC in contact with Li1-xAlO2-y having the lower lithium ratio (Li/Al). It was considered that the formation of LiAl5O8 phase due to lithium loss could deteriorate the compatibility of the SiC - Li1-xAlO2-y system.
