Skip to main content
U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Development of Bismuth and Platinum Bi-Metallic Nanoparticles to Enhance Melt Wire Temperature Resolution

S&T Accomplishment Report ·
OSTI ID:1813574
Advanced manufacturing (AM) based on direct-write (DW) technologies has emerged as the predominant enabler for the fabrication of active and passive sensors to be deployed in harsh operating environments seen in a nuclear reactor. Recently, Idaho National Laboratory and Boise State University have recently established capabilities to incorporate advanced manufacturing (AM) methods to accelerate, modernize and enhance functionality of nuclear sensors and instrumentation to achieve the goal of enhancing the safety and efficiency of nuclear reactors. A significant thrust of this work includes the development of nuclear relevant feedstock materials compatible with a variety of direct-write processes for the development, fabrication and testing of AM sensors for peak temperature detection and neutron flux monitoring. For this report, bismuth and bismuth/platinum (BiPt) bi-metallic nanoparticles were synthesized using wet chemical approaches to develop bi-metallic feedstock materials to enhance the sensitivity of melt wires for peak temperature detection. Nanoparticle characterization was performed with Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM) for nanoparticle composition and size, Transmission X-Ray Diffraction Fluorescence (TXRF) for nanoparticle composition, and Differential Scanning Calorimetry to elucidate the melting point of BiPt bi-metallic nanoparticles. Preliminary results indicate bi-metallic BiPt nanoparticles as a viable pathway for fabricating high resolution AM melt wires.
Research Organization:
Idaho National Laboratory (INL), Idaho Falls, ID (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Nuclear Energy (NE)
DOE Contract Number:
AC07-05ID14517
OSTI ID:
1813574
Report Number(s):
INL/EXT-21-63525-Rev000
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English