Nano-scale microstructure damage by neutron irradiations in a novel Boron-11 enriched TiB2 ultra-high temperature ceramic

Bhattacharya, Arunodaya; Parish, Chad M.; Koyanagi, Takaaki; Petrie, Christian M.; King, Derek; Hilmas, Greg E.; Fahrenholtz, William G.; Zinkle, Steven J.; Katoh, Yutai

doi:10.1016/j.actamat.2018.11.030

Nano-scale microstructure damage by neutron irradiations in a novel Boron-11 enriched TiB₂ ultra-high temperature ceramic

Journal Article · Mon Nov 19 00:00:00 EST 2018 · Acta Materialia

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.actamat.2018.11.030· OSTI ID:1484130

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Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
Missouri Univ. of Science and Technology, Rolla, MO (United States)
Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States); Univ. of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN (United States)

Ultra-high temperature transition-metal ceramics are potential candidates for fusion reactor structural and plasma-facing components. We reveal the irradiation damage microstructural phenomena in Boron-11 enriched titanium diboride (TiB₂) using mixed-spectrum neutron irradiations, combined with state-of-art characterization using transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and high resolution TEM. Irradiations were performed using High Flux Isotope Reactor at ~220 and 620 °C up to 2.4 x 10²⁵ n.m^-2 (E > 0.1 MeV). The calculated dose including contribution from residual Boron-10 (¹⁰B) transmutation recoils, was ~4.2 displacements per atom. TiB₂ is susceptible to irradiation damage in terms of dislocation loop formation, cavities and anisotropic swelling induced micro-cracking. At both 220 and 620 °C, TEM revealed dislocation loops on basal and prism planes, with nearly two orders of magnitude higher number density of prism-plane loops. HRTEM, electron diffraction and relrod imaging revealed additional defects on {10$$ \overline{1}\ $$0} planes, identified as faulted prism-plane dislocation loops. High defect cluster density on prism planes will induce a-lattice parameter swelling of TiB₂, as reported in literature. This anisotropic lattice parameter swelling induced grain boundary micro-cracking, the extent of which decreased with increasing irradiation temperature. The dominance of irradiation defect clusters on prism planes is different than typical hexagonal ceramics where dislocation loops predominantly form on basal planes, causing c-lattice parameter swelling. Helium generation and temperature rise from the transmutation of residual ¹⁰B resulted in matrix and grain boundary cavities for the irradiation at 620 °C. In conclusion, the study additionally signifies isotopic enrichment as a viable approach to produce transition-metal diborides for potential nuclear structural applications.

View Accepted Manuscript (DOE)

Research Organization:: Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE Office of Science (SC)

Grant/Contract Number:: AC05-00OR22725

OSTI ID:: 1484130

Alternate ID(s):: OSTI ID: 1636989

Journal Information:: Acta Materialia, Journal Name: Acta Materialia Journal Issue: C Vol. 165; ISSN 1359-6454

Publisher:: ElsevierCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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36 MATERIALS SCIENCE
High resolution TEM
Implantation/irradiation
Titanium diboride (TiB2)
Transmission electron microscopy
Ultra-high temperature ceramics