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Dual-Layer Oxidation-Protective Plasma-Sprayed SiC-ZrB2/Al2O3-Carbon Nanotube Coating on Graphite

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Abstract

Graphite is used in high-temperature gas-cooled reactors because of its outstanding irradiation performance and corrosion resistance. To restrict its high-temperature (>873 K) oxidation, atmospheric-plasma-sprayed SiC-ZrB2-Al2O3-carbon nanotube (CNT) dual-layer coating was deposited on graphite substrate in this work. The effect of each layer was isolated by processing each component of the coating via spark plasma sintering followed by isothermal kinetic studies. Based on isothermal analysis and the presence of high residual thermal stress in the oxide scale, degradation appeared to be more severe in composites reinforced with CNTs. To avoid the complexity of analysis of composites, the high-temperature activation energy for oxidation was calculated for the single-phase materials only, yielding values of 11.8, 20.5, 43.5, and 4.5 kJ/mol for graphite, SiC, ZrB2, and CNT, respectively, with increased thermal stability for ZrB2 and SiC. These results were then used to evaluate the oxidation rate for the composites analytically. This study has broad implications for wider use of dual-layer (SiC-ZrB2/Al2O3) coatings for protecting graphite crucibles even at temperatures above 1073 K.

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Acknowledgments

The authors acknowledge financial support from the Board of Research in Nuclear Sciences (BRNS), India (Grant No. 2013/36/12-BRNS/0736). K.B. acknowledges a P.K. Kelkar fellowship from the Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur. The authors acknowledge useful discussions with Dr. Kallol Mondal, IIT Kanpur, and Dr. L. Neelakantan, IIT Madras.

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    Authors and Affiliations

    1. High Temperature Fuel Cell Laboratory, Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur, Kanpur, 208016, India

      S. Ariharan, Pradyut Sengupta, Ambreen Nisar & Kantesh Balani

    2. Department of Materials Science and Metallurgical Engineering, Chhatrapati Shahu Ji Maharaj University, Kanpur, 208017, India

      Ankur Agnihotri

    3. Surface Engineering Division, CSIR-National Aerospace Laboratory, Bangalore, India

      N. Balaji & S. T. Aruna

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    1. S. Ariharan
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    Correspondence to Kantesh Balani.

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    S. Ariharan and Pradyut Sengupta contributed equally as first author.

    Appendix

    Appendix

    See Appendices A1, A2 and A3.

    Appendix A1
    figure 12

    Schematic diagrams of (a) atmospheric-plasma-sprayed graphite substrates in cross-sectional view and (c) spark-plasma-sintered composite pellets, and (b) coated graphite sectioned for thermogravimetric analysis

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    Appendix A2
    figure 13

    Load-displacement graphs obtained using instrumented microindentation on SPS composites

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    Appendix A3
    figure 14

    Schematic showing high temperature oxidation (dry atmosphere) of spark-plasma-sintered composites: (a) S20Z (top left: at room temperature, and bottom left: at ~1268 K), and (b) S20Z3C (top center: at room temperature, middle center: at ~873 K, and bottom center: at ~1268 K), and corresponding Raman spectrum (top right: before oxidation, bottom right: after oxidation)

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    Ariharan, S., Sengupta, P., Nisar, A. et al. Dual-Layer Oxidation-Protective Plasma-Sprayed SiC-ZrB2/Al2O3-Carbon Nanotube Coating on Graphite. J Therm Spray Tech 26, 417–431 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11666-016-0508-3

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