Preparation of Li_4SiO_4 Ceramic Pebbles by Agar Method Using Li_2SiO_3 and Li_2CO_3 as Raw Materials

摘要

Lithium-containing ceramic pebbles, the likeliest tritium breeders in the future, are needed in the fusion reactor blankets. Currently, lithium orthosilicate (Li_4SiO_4) has been widely studied for tritium breeding pebble as it has 1250°C melting temperature, 0.54 g/cm~3 lithium concentration, and excellent tritium release performance. For simplifying reaction mechanism and the preparation technology to tailor the properties, the Li_4SiO_4 breeders were produced with an agar-gel technology using stable and cheap lithium metasilicate and lithium carbonate as starting materials. In addition, the solid (the prepared powder and ager) and liquid (deionized water) weight ration of the green pebble was also evaluated. The crush load, density, and open porosity achieved 36 N, 89.3% TD, and 4.5 %, respectively.