Fabrication of Li4SiO4 pebbles by wet method with modified powders synthesized via sol-gel process

Li4SiO4 pebbles have been recognized as attractive tritium breeder materials in the fusion reactor blanket of international thermonuclear experimental reactor (ITER). In this work, we present a facile method to prepare Li4SiO4 pebbles of high density and sphericity by using a directive wet method with the Li4SiO4 powders synthesized via sol-gel process. The Li4SiO4 powders were prepared with two-step calcinating method, followed by a ball-milling process. Thermal and phase analysis, morphologies and sintering behaviors observations of the pebbles were carried out systematically. Experimental results show that the pure phase powders with white color that prepared by using two-step calcinating method is different from the powders prepared by the traditional direct calcinating method. The subsequent ball milling process proves to be effective to improve the relative density of the sintered body. When sintered at the temperature as low as 850 °C for 4 h, the favorable Li4SiO4 pebbles with uniform size (∼1 mm), good sphericity (1.02), and high density (above 90% T.D.) were fabricated by using a directive wet method. The as-fabricated pebbles hold good potential as tritium breeding materials for blankets.