To
optimize the performance of the carbon fiber reinforced carbon
matrix (C/C) composites by controlling the microstructure for more
reliable and safety application in thorium molten salt reactor (hereafter,
TMSR), we have investigated the irradiation effects of fiber, matrix,
and their interfaces in C/C composite induced by He+ ions
and further reveal their corresponding micromechanism. Compared with
fibers, an obviously fragmented surface morphology in matrix appears
and then gradually becomes widespread around the surface of C/C composite
with increasing dose of irradiation. This found is attributed to the
breakage of crystallites observed by synchrotron-based grazing incidence
X-ray diffraction (GIXRD) and the increase of defect state density
revealed by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and Raman spectroscopy,
respectively. Three different microstructure evolutions in fiber,
matrix and fiber-matrix interface induced by irradiation damage have
been further revealed in detail by transmission electron microscopy
(TEM) and high-resolution TEM (HRTEM). It is found that the layered
structure gradually loses its initial ordering and the nanostructural
degradation in carbon matrix is much more serious than that of the
fiber, resulting in breaks and bends in the lattice with increasing
dose. Observed by nanoindentation experiment, the enhancement of the
hardness and modulus of the matrix is more significant than that in
fiber, which can be attributed to the more obviously pinning of basal
plane dislocations in the matrix due to lattice defects induced by
He+ irradiation. These discoveries are properly contribute
to improve the performance of the C/C composites by regulatory microstructure
composition, such as fiber and matrix.