Ceramics for thermonuclear fusion. II Synthesis and sintering of lithium metasilicate

The synthesis and sintering of lithium metasilicate, a possible candidate as fuel in nuclear fusion has been studied. This synthesis has been carried out by solid state reaction between lithium carbonate and silicon oxide. As was demonstrated by X-ray diffraction the formation takes place by a consecutive reaction where the intermediate. The thermogravimetric analysis has shown the influence of the silica particle size and crystallinity on the reaction giving rise to activation energy values of 51,6 kJ/mol for silica gel with high specific surface and 272,0 kJ/mol for silica glass with low specific surface. The sintering study shows it is necessary to use lithium metasilicate from high specific surface silica and carrying out. The sintering study between 8000 and 9000C for obtaining sintered densities between 75-85% of theoretical density. (Author)