Preparation of a B₄C hollow microsphere through gel-casting for an inertial confinement fusion (ICF) target

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• 作者：Ruichong Chen^a ; ^b ; Qiwu Shi^c ; Lin Su^a ; ^b ; Mao Yang^a ; ^d ; Zhangyi Huang^a ; ^b ; Yanli Shi^a ; ^d ; Qinghua Zhang^a ; ^b ; Zhijun Liao^a ; ^b ; ^{liaozhijun@scu.edu.cn" class="auth_mail" title="E-mail the corresponding author} ; Tiecheng Lu^a ; ^b ; ^d ; ^{lutiecheng@vip.sina.com" class="auth_mail" title="E-mail the corresponding author}
• 关键词：B4C hollow microsphere ; Gel-casting ; Inertial confined fusion
• 刊名：Ceramics International
• 出版年：2017
• 出版时间：January 2017
• 年：2017
• 卷：43
• 期：1
• 页码：571-577
• 全文大小：2280 K

文摘

B₄C hollow microspheres have been proposed to be a promising target pellet for inertial confinement fusion (ICF). However, the preparation of a B₄C hollow microsphere is challenging and has been rarely reported. In this study, we developed a gel-casting method followed by a calcining process to fabricate a core-shell structured B₄C microsphere on a molybdenum core. The microstructure, stoichiometry, surface roughness, and wall thickness of the microsphere was characterized by Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and X-ray photography. The results indicated that a core-shell structured microsphere with uniform microstructure and high strength were obtained by gel-casting, accompanied by calcining at 1400 °C. The diameter of the molybdenum core was 2 mm, and the wall thickness was approximately 100–180 µm. It should be noted that the main phase of core-shell structured microsphere was B₄C, with a small amount of residual carbon and B₂O₃. The core-shell structured B₄C microsphere was subsequently processed by laser drilling and corrosion to obtain the B₄C hollow microsphere. It was indicated that the B₄C hollow microsphere has respectable corrosion resistance. Atomic Force Microscope (AFM) analysis demonstrates that the B₄C hollow microsphere exhibits outer and inner surface roughness of 197 nm rms and 19.3 nm rms based on a 5 µm square scan, respectively. This study provides a new method for preparing a high quality B₄C hollow microsphere, which have potential application as a target pellet for ICF.