Rapid preparation of tritium breeder material Li2TiO3 pebbles by thermal plasma

Highlights: • A novel, economical and effective approach was developed to prepare Li₂TiO₃ pebbles via rapid melting and cooling process in DC arc thermal plasma system. • The prepared Li₂TiO₃ pebbles are mainly distributed in the 50–250 µm, and the average size of the particles is about 100 µm. • The prepared Li₂TiO₃ pebbles present excellent spherical degree and spheroidization rate close to 100%, and are considered as candidate for tritium breeder materials in ITER test blanket module. - Abstract: A route to obtain tritium breeder material Li₂TiO₃ pebbles in one step was investigated using a direct-current (DC) thermal plasma system. For this purpose, irregular and agglomerate powders were used as raw powders which were injected into DC thermal plasma torch with a plasma power level of ∼18 kW. The morphology, particles size distribution and phase change of the prepared Li₂TiO₃ pebbles were characterized by field-emission scanning electron microscope and X-ray diffraction (XRD). The results showed that prepared Li₂TiO₃ pebbles presented excellent spherical degree with average size about 100 µm and the spheroidization rate was close to 100%. The XRD patterns demonstrated that higher degree of crystallinity of Li₂TiO₃ pebbles could be obtained by thermal plasma processed. Formation mechanism of Li₂TiO₃ pebbles in DC thermal plasma system was discussed.