Fabrication development and preliminary characterization of Li2TiO3 pebbles by wet process

Lithium titanate (Li2TiO3) has attracted attention of many researchers because of easy tritium recovery at low temperature, high chemical stability, etc. The application of small Li2TiO3 spheres has been proposed in some designs of fusion blanket. Although, the wet process and sol-gel method are the most advantageous as a fabrication method of Li2TiO3 pebbles from points of mass production, and of reprocessing necessary for effective use of resources and reduction of radioactive wastes. However, the fabrication of Li2TiO3 pebbles by the wet process has not been established. Therefore, in this study, fabrication development and preliminary characterization of Li2TiO3 pebbles by the wet process were performed, noting the aging and sintering conditions in the fabrication process of gel-spheres. At the best condition, Li2TiO3 pebbles with the target density of 80-85%T.D. were obtained. (orig.)