真空电弧熔炼制备U3Si2块体及其杂质状态研究
Major Surface Impurities of Vacuum Arc Melted U3Si2 Bulk Material:An Experimental Study
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摘要: U3Si2作为核燃料, 相比于传统的UO2燃料, 具有高的铀密度和良好的导热性等优点, 是极具潜力的下一代核燃料候选。U3Si2多采用电弧熔炼的方法制备, 但目前对U3Si2材料的表面杂质状态的研究仍有待深入开展。本文通过真空四电弧熔炼方法制得了U3Si2样品。通过X射线衍射仪分析了样品结构与取向特性。能量色散谱仪以及X射线光电子能谱分析表明, 电弧熔炼得到的U3Si2样品主要含有C、O杂质, 其中C杂质属于表面附着, 而O杂质来源于表面氧化, 以及熔炼过程中引入的少量O杂质。Abstract: The U3Si2 bulk material, an advanced nuclear fuel with good thermal conductivity and high uranium density, was prepared by tetra-arc melting in vacuum.The microstructures and depth profile of main impurities were characterized with X-ray diffraction spectroscopy, energy dispersive spectroscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy.The results show that the main uniformly distributed impurities were carbon and oxygen.To be specific, a decreasing carbon depth profile possibly originated from oxidation of hydrocarbon in residue gas and carbon surface segregation; and the oxygen depth distribution probably resulted from surface oxidation in argon ion sputtering and oxygen doping or weak oxidation in arc melting of liquid U3Si2.