Three alternative raw materials for improving the performances of Li4SiO4 pebbles

Abstract Currently, Li 4 SiO 4 has been considered one of the best candidates for tritium breeders. In order to improve the crush load and the density of Li 4 SiO 4 pebbles with reasonable pores and small grains for tritium breeding, three alternative raw materials were used for fabricating Li 4 SiO 4 pebbles: the fabrication of Li 4 SiO 4 pebbles from Li 2 CO 3 and SiO 2 , the fabrication of Li 4 SiO 4 pebbles from Li 2 CO 3 and Li 2 SiO 3 (for the first time), and the fabrication of Li 4 SiO 4 pebbles from Li 4 SiO 4 . The Li 4 SiO 4 pebbles were fabricated by a graphite bed process and sintered in Ar with a series of sintering techniques which based on the different reaction paths deduced from the TG-DTA and XRD results. And they were compared particularly with regard to their effects on the crush load and the density. The results show that the optimal crush load, density, and open porosity of the Li 4 SiO 4 pebbles using Li 2 SiO 3 and Li 2 CO 3 as raw materials reached 64.7 N, 90.3%, and 9.2%, respectively, at sintering technique i, i.e., two holding temperatures (650 and 750 °C) with 5 °C/min heating rate.