Irradiation experiments with Li2TiO3/Li4SiO4 two-phase lithium ceramics at the WWR-K reactor

Abstract

Advanced two-phase lithium ceramics Li₂TiO₃-Li₄SiO₄ are considered as a potential candidate for use in solid-state fusion reactor blankets. This phase composition makes it possible to combine the high lithium content in orthosilicate Li₄SiO₄ with the mechanical strength of lithium metatitanate Li₂TiO₃.

The study of the effect of neutron irradiation on two-phase lithium ceramics, as well as the correlation with its structural and physical properties, remains quite relevant, taking into account the technological diversity in the manufacture of the ceramics themselves and ceramic pebbles. This paper presents the results of an experiment on reactor irradiation of two-phase ceramics 25mol% Li₂TiO₃ + 75mol% Li₄SiO₄ obtained on the KALOS installation (KArlsruhe Lithium OrthoSilicate) using a modified melt-spraying technique. Neutron irradiation was carried out at the WWR-K research reactor (Almaty, Kazakhstan) for 21 days at a sample temperature of 50 °C. The accumulated fluence for thermal neutrons was 3.7·10¹⁹ n/cm². The nuclear reaction rate was 2.16·10¹³ reactions/cm³⋅s; the damage rate was 7.63·10^-8 dpa/s, the damage during the irradiation period was 0.14 dpa.