Abstract
Fabrication of uranium oxicarbide microspheres, a component of TRISO fuel particles for high temperature nuclear power systems, is based on the internal gelation of uranium salts in the presence of carbon black. In order to obtain a high quality product, carbon black should remain dispersed during all phases of the gelation process. In this study, the surface and structural properties of several commercial carbon black materials, and the use of dispersing agents was examined with the goal of finding optimal conditions for stabilizing submicron-sized carbon black dispersions. Traditional methods for stabilizing dispersions, based on the use of dispersing agents, failed to stabilize carbon dispersions against large pH variations, typical for the internal gelation process. An alternate dispersing method was proposed, based on using surface-modified carbons functionalized with strongly ionized surface groups (sodium sulfonate). With a proper choice of surface modifiers, these advanced carbons disperse easily to particles in the range of 0.15-0.20 μm and the dispersions remain stable during the conditions of internal gelation.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 38-51 |
| Number of pages | 14 |
| Journal | Journal of Nuclear Materials |
| Volume | 375 |
| Issue number | 1 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Mar 30 2008 |
Funding
This work was sponsored by the US Department of Energy through the Office of Nuclear Energy Science in support of Advanced Gas Reactor Fuel Development and Qualification Program under Contract DE-AC05-00OR22725 with U.T. Battelle, LLC. The work was performed at the ORNL under the auspices of the Materials Science and Technology Division and in continuous collaboration with scientists from the Nuclear Science and Technology Division and from Chemical Sciences Division. The authors appreciate Gary Bell and Frank Homan for their managerial support; Ashli Clark, Michelle Kidder, Douglas Blom, and Paul Menchhofer for their excellent support during the work, and Charles Barnes and Matthias Ebner of Idaho National Laboratory for continuous exchange of ideas and information. The authors thank Columbian Chemical Company and Cabot Corporation for supplying several carbon black samples; and Dow Chemicals Corporation and Lanxess Corporation for supplying surfactant samples. The authors also thank Dr Deborah Hess of Evans Analytical Group for professional assistance with analysis of XPS spectra and Dr Jacek Jagiello for providing SAIEUS software. Critical reading of the manuscript by Dr Madeline Anne Feltus of the DOE Office of Nuclear Energy is highly appreciated.
| Funders | Funder number |
|---|---|
| Advanced Gas Reactor Fuel Development and Qualification Program | DE-AC05-00OR22725 |
| U.S. Department of Energy |
Keywords
- 28.41.Bm
- 68.43.-h
- 81.05.Uw
- 82.70.-y