User:Brotter121/Lithium Orthosilicate

Lithium Orthosilicate is a compound of lithium and silicon. It is an off-white powder at room temperature and has the chemical formula Li4SiO4.

In recent years, along with other Lithium ceramics, orthosilicate pebbles have been the subject of research efforts towards tritium breeding materials in nuclear fusion applications.

Crystallization
The most common crystallization of Li4SiO4 is a monoclinic system.

Uses in sintering
It has been discovered that Li2TiO3 powders have a high purity and good sintering ability.

Carbon dioxide scrubber
Li4SiO4 reacts exothermically with CO2 to form lithium carbonate and silica, following the reaction

This reaction occurs most rapidly at elevated temperatures in the range.

Tritium breeding
Fusion reactions, such as those in the proposed ITER thermonuclear demonstrator reactor, are fueled by tritium and deuterium. Tritium resources are extremely limited in their availability, with total resources currently estimated at twenty kilograms. Lithium-containing ceramic pebbles can be used as solid breeder materials in a component known as a Helium Cooled Breeder Blanket (HCPB),for the production of tritium. The HCPB breeding blanket constitutes a key component of the ITER reactor design. In such reactor designs tritium is produced by neutrons leaving the plasma and interacting with lithium in the blanket.Li2TiO3 along with Li4SiO4 are attractive as tritium breeding materials because they exhibit high tritium release, low activation, and chemical stability.

Synthesis of lithium orthosilicate breeder pebbles
Li2TiO3 powder is most commonly prepared by the mixing of lithium carbonate, Ti-nitrate solution, and citric acid followed by calcination, compaction, and sintering. The nanocrystalline material created is used as a breeder powder due to its high purity and activity.

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