Gas permeability of lanthanum oxycarbide targets for the SPES project

The creation of a porous matrix made of interconnected and permeable paths is a key step for the processing of optimized metal carbide targets in the SPES (Selective Production of Exotic Species) project. Unlike close or non-connected open pores, permeable pores link more efficiently the interior and the surface of target disks, and therefore facilitate the effusion and convection transport mechanisms for a faster extraction of exotic nuclei with short decay times. This work describes the analysis of the interconnected porosity of lanthanum oxycarbide targets through the evaluation of permeability coefficients obtained in argon flow experiments at room and high temperature. Samples were produced by the sacrificial template method using phenolic resin (PR) as source of carbon for the carbothermal reaction of lanthanum oxide, and different amounts of polymethilmetacrylate (PMMA) microbeads as template for the production of porosity. Results showed that conventional targets prepared without sacrificial templates displayed relatively high total porosity (45.6%), but very low permeability coefficients (k1 = 4.21 × 10−17 m2 and k2 = 1.90 × 10−15 m), comparable to other dense ceramic materials. The linear increase in total porosity from 64.8% to 88.9% achieved by the gradual increase of PMMA from 30% to 80 wt.% resulted in a remarkable increase of five orders of magnitude for k1 (2.36 × 10−12 m2) and eight orders for k2 (7.48 × 10−7 m2). The addition of sacrificial fillers was found to be much more efficient to create interconnected and permeable paths in the structure than the carbothermal reduction itself. Preliminary tests with argon flow up to 450 °C revealed that the porous matrix also became more permeable with the increase in the gas temperature due to thermal expansion effects, but the extent of this gain depended on the initial porosity level of the sample.