Structural Modifications And Mechanical Degradation Of Ion Irradiated Glassy Polymer Carbon

The TRISO fuel has been used in some of the Generation IV nuclear reactor designs. It consists of a fuel kernel of UOx coated with several layers of materials with different functions. Pyrolytic carbon (PyC) is one of the materials in the layers. In this study we investigate the possibility of using Glassy Polymeric Carbon (GPC) as an alternative to PyC. GPC is used for artificial heart valves, heat-exchangers, and other high-tech products developed for the space and medical industries. This lightweight material can maintain dimensional and chemical stability in adverse environment and very high temperatures (up to 3000 deg. C). In this work, we are comparing the changes in physical and microstructure properties of GPC after exposure to irradiation fluence of 5 MeV Ag equivalent to a 1 displacement per atom (dpa) at samples prepared at 1000, 1500 and 2000 deg. C. The GPC material is manufactured and tested at the Center for Irradiation Materials (CIM) at Alabama A and M University. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and Raman spectroscopy were used for analysis.