Irradiation damages in Ti3SiC2: formation and characterisation of the oxide layer

Jean-Christophe Nappé (1, 2, 3) , Philippe Grosseau (1, 2, 3) , F. Audubert (4) , Bernard Guilhot (1, 2, 3) , Michel Beauvy (4) , Philibert Iacconi (5) , Mourad Benabdesselam (6)

1 SPIN-ENSMSE - Centre Sciences des Processus Industriels et Naturels
2 P2MC-ENSMSE - Département Poudres et Matériaux Multi-Composants
3 LPMG-EMSE - Laboratoire des Procédés en Milieux Granulaires
4 LTEC - Laboratoire des Technologies d'Elaboration des Combustibles
5 LPES - Laboratoire de Physique Electronique des Solides
6 LPMC - Laboratoire de physique de la matière condensée

The concept of the fuel for the IVth generation reactors should consist of fuel pellets surrounded with a matrix that must contain fission products. Thanks to their interesting thermo-mechanical properties, carbides are sensed to become this matrix. Among the studied carbides, Ti3SiC2 can be distinguished; actually, its nano-laminated structure confers to it some softness as well as a better toughness than classical carbides like SiC or TiC. However, before to use this remarkable carbide, a study of its behaviour under irradiation must be led. Thus, some characterisations were performed on 75 MeV Kr irradiated specimens. They allowed to underline that TiO2 (formed on the surface of Ti3SiC2 during the surface preparation) seems to be sputtered by irradiation, and that the unit cell of Ti3SiC2 is dilated along c axis.

Mots clés: Ti3SiC2; irradiation; heavy ions; krypton; Scanning Electron Microscopy; Atomic Force Microscopy; Low-Incidence X-Ray Diffraction

Domaines: Génie des procédés

Jean-Christophe Nappé, Philippe Grosseau, F. Audubert, Bernard Guilhot, Michel Beauvy, et al.. Irradiation damages in Ti3SiC2: formation and characterisation of the oxide layer. 10th International Conference of the European Ceramic Society, Jun 2007, Berlin, Germany. pp.2187-2191. ⟨hal-00446168⟩