Inorganic Sol-Gel Preparation of Medium Sized Microparticles of Li2TiO3 from TiCl4 as Tritium Breeding Material for Fusion Reactors

Microspheres of Li2TiO3 were fabricated by a classical, inorganic sol-gel process from commercially available TiCl4. Elaborated process consists of the following main steps: (1) dissolving of TiCl4 in concentrated aqueous HCl and addition of LiOH; (2) formation of sol emulsion in 2-ethylhexanol-1 containing the surfactant SPAN-80 (EH); (3) gelation of emulsion drops by extraction of water with partially dehydrated EH; (4) impregnation of gel to Li:Ti molar ratio MR = 2; (5) thermal treatment at 1200°C in order to receive chloride free product. This temperature can be significantly lowered (to 750°C) by dechlorination starting solution TiCl4 by chemical treatment of the with nitric acid to form of nitrate-stabilized titania sols. Tritium release from sol-gel made Li2TiO3 microspheres were found very close to that observed for other traditional materials, however for the first sample process starts slightly earlier.