Portal de Periódicos da CAPES

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

2024; Nature Portfolio; Volume: 14; Issue: 1 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1038/s41598-024-64614-3

2045-2322

Trevor Marchhart, Chase Hargrove, Alexandru Marin, Hanna Schamis, Ashrakat Saefan, Eric Lang, Xing Wang, Jean Paul Allain,

Advanced materials and composites

Abstract 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.