Speaker
Description
Young Ah Park, Yi-Hyun Park
Korea Institute of Fusion Energy (KFE), Korea
Lithium orthosilicate (Li4SiO4) and Lithium metatitanate (Li2TiO3) have been studied as promising tritium breeder for fusion energy. Li4SiO4 has a lithium density of 0.51g/cm3, which is higher than the lithium density of Li2TiO3 (0.43g/cm3), resulting in higher tritium production efficiency. However, Li4SiO4 is prone to decomposition reaction at high temperature, resulting in low mechanical-chemical stability at the operation temperature. Recently, core-shell type Li4SiO4-Li2TiO3 pebble, coated with Li2TiO3 on the surface of Li4SiO4 pebble, has been developed to enhance the low mechanical-chemical stability. (Core: Li4SiO4, Shell: Li2TiO3) It is usually prepared in two steps: fabrication of Li4SiO4 pebbles and coating with Li2TiO3. This Li4SiO4-Li2TiO3 pebble fabrication method is not suitable from the point of view of mass production for breeding blanket. In addition, the difference in shrinkage rates between Li4SiO4 and Li2TiO3 provides a potential for separation of the interface between core and coating during fabrication and operation.
In this study, we aim to synthesize Li4SiO4@Li2TiO3 powders with a core-shell structure to improve the low thermal stability of Li4SiO4 and simultaneously prepare pebbles that can be mass-produced. (Core: Li4SiO4, Shell: Li2TiO3) Li4SiO4@Li2TiO3 powders were synthesized at nanoscale using hydrolysis and syn-lithiation methods. The detailed preparation process and the properties of synthesized Li4SiO4@Li2TiO3 powder will be described in this presentation.
