Rapid Fabrication of Li2TiO3 Pebbles via Microwave-Induced Combustion Process and 3D Printing

Abstract

Li2TiO3 has been recognized as one of the most promising tritium breeding materials for D-T fusion reactor blanket. In this study, ultra-fine Li2TiO3 powder was prepared rapidly by microwave-induced solution combustion synthesis (MSCS) using nitrates of lithium and titanate as raw materials, citric acid as fuel. The as-synthesized Li2TiO3 powder exhibits an average crystalline size as small as 20 nm with uniform distribution. Computer-assisted 3D printing technology was employed to fabricate Li2TiO3 ceramic breeding pebbles. This computer-assisted process is precise, efficient and controllable, which offers an alternative for the mass production of Li2TiO3 pebbles. The pebbles exhibit good sphericity, relatively small grain size, preferable sinterability and crushing load strength.

Fabrication of fine‐grained Li2TiO3 ceramic with enhanced performance using high‐energy ball milling

“…Figure 12 plots the comparison of the crushing load of Li 2 TiO 3 ceramic pebbles from different preparation methods 3,6,26,41–47 . It could be seen that the Li 2 TiO 3 ceramic pebbles with a high relative density and exceptional crushing load were obtained at a relatively low sintering temperature in this work.…”

“…39,40 Figure 12 plots the comparison of the crushing load of Li 2 TiO 3 ceramic pebbles from different preparation methods. 3,6,26,[41][42][43][44][45][46][47] It could be seen that the Li 2 TiO 3 ceramic pebbles with a high relative density and exceptional crushing load were obtained at a relatively low sintering temperature in this work. There are two reasons: (1) HEBM can provide higher impact energy to fully crush Li 2 CO 3 and TiO 2 powders to the nanometer scale.…”