Boron Carbide Deposition on Urania and Urania-Gadolinia Fuels

Abstract

Pure uranium dioxide and uranium dioxide-gadolinium oxide (5 and 10%) fuels used in this study were prepared by the solution-gelation (sol-gel) technique. The fuels were then coated with boron carbide by chemical vapor deposition. Boron carbide was produced from the reaction of carbon tetrachloride and boron trichloride with excess hydrogen, in a tube furnace at 1000, 1100, and 1175°C. The Fourier transform infrared data of boron carbide deposited on a silica glass were in agreement with the ones in the literature. The experiments showed that the composition of the coating changed with deposition temperature. There was boron-rich coating at low-temperature deposition, and carbon-rich coating at high-temperature deposition. The morphology and the thickness of the coating have been investigated by using scanning electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction spectroscopy.