Chemisorption of tritium on graphites at elevated temperatures

Tritium interactions with graphite will influence the design of procedures for handling graphite components. The tritium sorption capacities of various graphite grades are therefore needed. In a series of measurements, several graphite specimens in different states of oxidation were exposed to tritium gas and to tritium oxide at temperatures ranging from 175 to 750 0C. Higher temperatures were found to result in tritium sorption at concentrations as high as 2.1 x 1013 cm-2. Sorbed quantities at lower temperatures after exposure to either tritium oxide or tritium gas were found to be in the range of 1 x 108 cm-2. Oxidized specimens showed the expected profile effects of greater penetration of the tritium into the specimens. The relationship of the BET surface area to the amount adsorbed appeared to be linear for oxidized specimens; however, the amount of tritium sorbed by unoxidized specimens could not be simply related to the BET surface area