Recent advances in the development of solid breeder blanket materials

Abstract

Increasing attention in breeder blanket development has been given to the lithium-containing ceramic materials. The most promising of these materials include Li£O, LigZrOg, Li4SiO4, and y-LiA102. Recent studies have focused on Li20 because of its high tritium breeding potential and good thermal characteristics. Tritium solubility in Li20 is within acceptable ranges and this oxide displays excellent behavior under neutron ii'radiation. A broad scope of laboratory and in-reactor irradiation experiments are underway to further investigate these materials.

Mechanism of tritium diffusion in lithium oxide

“…Among its suggested uses, lithium oxide is a leading candidate as breeder blanket material for proposed deuterium-tritium fusion reactors. 1 This is because when irradiated with neutrons a nuclear reaction converts lithium ions to tritium ions, thus creating equal numbers of tritium ions and lithium vacancies. Tritium extracted from the material may be fed into the reactor to help sustain the fusion reaction.…”

Dissociation mechanism of H2 molecule on the Li2O/hydrogenated-Li2O (111) surface from first principles calculations

“…Lithium oxide (Li 2 O) is a material of technological interest in the elds of fusion reactors as a blanket breeding material and in power electronic devices, such as high-energy lithium secondary batteries. [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8] Because of its high lithium atomic density and high melting point, to name just a few properties, the Li 2 O ceramic has been considered as a prospective candidate breeder for the production of tritium in future thermal nuclear reactors. As we all know that the solid surface portion rst suffers interaction with the external environment, we take it for granted that surface investigations are an issue of intense interest.…”

CO 2 absorption characteristics of a Li 2 TiO 3 blanket material under atmospheric exposure

“…In a fusion reactor using deuterium (D) and tritium (T), a blanket material containing Li is required to produce T [1][2][3][4][5]. Since Li 2 TiO 3 has physical and chemical stability and good T release properties, it is one of blanket candidate materials [6][7][8].…”