Preparation and Characterization of Zirconium Carbide Coating on Coated Fuel Particles

Abstract

Compact and uniform zirconium carbide (ZrC) coatings have been successfully deposited on coated fuel particles using a ZrCl 4 +H 2 +Ar+C 3 H 6 gas mixture. Zirconium tetrachloride (ZrCl 4 ) powder feeder was especially designed and manufactured to control accurately the flow rate of ZrCl 4 and produce ZrC on an industrial scale. The coating has a large density (6.57 g/cm 3 ), a thickness of 35 μm, a stoichiometry close to Zr/C=1, and a clear interface between the coating and substrate. The coating exhibits an fcc ‐ZrC phase with a grain size of 11.18 nm and a (111) texture coefficient of 0.57, which corresponds to a polycrystalline microstructure of randomly oriented ZrC grains. The preparation apparatus, processing conditions, properties, microstructures, and morphologies of the ZrC coating are investigated systematically.