Effect of graphite and graphene oxide on thorium carbide microstructural and thermal properties

Abstract

Thorium carbide to be tested as target material for the production of 225Ac with the ISOL method, was produced via carbothermal reduction of ThO2 nanoparticles by graphite and graphene oxide, respectively. The use of graphene oxide (GO) as carbon source resulted in a reduced reactivity compared to graphite, confirmed by the presence of unreacted ThO2 mainly in the core of the samples. The reacted ThO2 or ThC2–GO showed a faster reactivity in air, mainly observed as ThC2 amorphization. The specific surface area of the ThC2–GO samples was almost doubled compared to ThC2–graphite samples. The effect of these microstructural features was analysed in terms of thermal diffusivity and calculated thermal conductivity that were both reduced in ThC2–GO samples, however the difference with ThC2–graphite samples decreased at increasing temperature. The present study shows that the use of unreduced GO inhibits the solid-state reaction between ThO2 and C; on the other hand, the high reactivity of the ThC2 so produced is expected to be beneficial for the 225Ac production with the ISOL method, affording a high release efficiency. It is expected that the use of reduced GO could represent a good solution for highly efficient ThC2 targets.