Discovering tungsten-based composites as plasma facing materials for future high-duty cycle nuclear fusion reactors

Despite of excellent thermal properties and high sputtering resistance, pure tungsten cannot fully satisfy the requirements for plasma facing materials in future high-duty cycle nuclear fusion reactions due to the coupled extreme environments, including the high thermal loads, plasma exposure, and r...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Scientific reports 2024-06, Vol.14 (1), p.13864-13, Article 13864
Main Authors: Marchhart, Trevor, Hargrove, Chase, Marin, Alexandru, Schamis, Hanna, Saefan, Ashrakat, Lang, Eric, Wang, Xing, Allain, Jean Paul
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
639/301/1023
639/4077/4091/4093
Composite materials
Fusion
Fusion reactors
Graphite
Humanities and Social Sciences
Impurities
Mechanical properties
multidisciplinary
Nuclear engineering
Nuclear reactors
Performance evaluation
Plasma sintering
Powder metallurgy
Radiation
Science
Science (multidisciplinary)
Temperature
Thermal properties
Tungsten
Zirconium
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Summary:Despite of excellent thermal properties and high sputtering resistance, pure tungsten cannot fully satisfy the requirements for plasma facing materials in future high-duty cycle nuclear fusion reactions due to the coupled extreme environments, including the high thermal loads, plasma exposure, and radiation damage. Here, we demonstrated that tungsten-based composite materials fabricated using spark-plasma sintering (SPS) present promising solutions to these challenges. Through the examination of two model systems, i.e., tungsten-zirconium composite for producing porous tungsten near the surface and dispersoid-strengthened tungsten, we discussed both the strengths and limitations of the SPS-fabricated materials. Our findings point towards the need for future studies aimed at optimizing the SPS process to achieve desired microstructures and effective control of oxygen impurities in the tungsten-based composite materials.
ISSN:2045-2322
2045-2322
DOI:10.1038/s41598-024-64614-3