Deuterium trapping in deep traps of differently oriented pyrolytic graphite exposed to D2 gas at 1473 K

Due to their importance for tritium inventories in future DT fueled fusion machines, experimental data on H isotope diffusion, absorption and retention in deep traps (Eb ∼ 4.3 eV) of graphites exposed to hydrogen at elevated temperatures have been reviewed. Deuterium retention was studied in edge- and basal-oriented pyrolytic graphite (PG) and polycrystalline RG-Ti-91 damaged by irradiation with 200 keV carbon ions. Deuterium loading was done by soaking in D2 gas at 1473 K, and the resulting D retention was measured by nuclear reaction analysis. The microstructure was studied by cross-sectional TEM, SEM and microprofilometry. The concentration of strong traps created by irradiation and estimated by the amount of accumulated deuterium was shown to saturate with the damage above ∝1 dpa at about 1000 appm. In non-damaged and damaged graphites deuterium diffuses via porous grain boundaries and along basal planes within crystallites, while its migration through the graphite lattice along the c direction was found to be negligible. Radiation modifications of PG retard deuterium diffusion and decrease the rate of its chemical erosion by a factor of five. The amount of deuterium accumulated in strong traps in graphites is mainly influenced by their macro- and microstructure, while the degree of graphitization seems to be less important. Derivations are made of the susceptibility of damaged graphites, in particular, CFCs to the retention of hydrogen isotopes in deep traps. (orig.)