Development of anti-permeation coatings for tritium facing materials for fusion

商业聚变装置将使用放射性氚作为燃料源。由于氚在自然界中的稀缺性，必须人工生产，而且由于其辐射毒性和对候选聚变材料性能的有害影响，适当的氚管理对于提供商业聚变动力至关重要。例如，氚渗透到材料中不仅会减少可用于聚变的氚的数量，还会影响这些氚组件的维护和处置路线。英国政府通过英国原子能管理局承诺在2040年之前交付一个磁性聚变发电站的原型。因此，为了满足这一期限，迫切需要了解氚在面向氚界面的材料中的渗透情况，例如面向等离子体的材料。在现有的氚表面材料如钨(W)上涂覆防渗透材料已被提议作为开发和鉴定新型块状防渗透材料的一种更快的替代方案，也是该项目的工业赞助商Atkins感兴趣的一个关键领域。在这个项目中，学生将使用实验方法，首先确定氢气和/或氚在已知和新型防渗透材料中的渗透率，以确定哪些材料提供了最有效的屏障。接下来，学生将通过溅射来生产最有希望的涂层材料，然后使用X射线和电子显微镜技术对这些涂层进行表征。最后，高温高能离子注入将被用来确定涂层对聚变相关环境的响应。在项目期间，学生将能够在阿特金斯的现场项目中获得工业经验。

Commercial fusion devices will use radioactive tritium as a fuel source. Due to its scarcity in nature, tritium must be artificially produced and, owing to its radiotoxicity and deleterious effects on the properties of candidate fusion materials, appropriate tritium management is critical in order to deliver commercial fusion power. For example, tritium permeation into materials will not only reduce the amount of tritium available for fusion but will also impact the maintenance and disposal routes of these tritiated components. The UK government, via the UK Atomic Energy Authority, has committed to delivering a prototype magnetic fusion power station by 2040. Therefore, to meet this deadline, there is an urgent need to understand tritium permeation into materials facing the tritium interface, such as plasma facing materials. Coating existing tritium facing materials such as tungsten (W) with anti-permeation materials has been proposed as a faster alternative to the development and qualification of novel bulk anti-permeation materials, and is a key area of interest for the industrial sponsors of this project, Atkins. In this project the student, using experimental methods, will first determine hydrogen and / or tritium permeation rates in known and novel anti-permeation materials, to determine which materials provide the most effective barrier. Next, the student will produce via sputtering the most promising materials as coatings, followed by characterisation of these coatings using X-ray and electron microscopy techniques. Finally, energetic ion implantation at high temperatures will be used to determine the coatings response to fusion relevant environments. During the project, the student will be able to gain industrial experience on live projects at Atkins.