Boron carbide deposition on urania and urania-gadolinia fuels

Pure uranium dioxide and uranium dioxidegadolinium oxide (5 and 10%) fuels used in this study were prepared by the solution-gelation (sol-gel) techniq ue. The fuels were then coated with boron carbide by chemical vapor deposit ion. Boron carbide was produced from the reaction of carbon tetrachloride a nd boron trichloride with excess hydrogen, in a tube furnace at 1000, 1100, and 1175 degreesC. The Fourier transform infrared data of boron carbide de posited on a silica glass were in agreement with the ones in the literature . The experiments showed that the composition of the coating changed with d eposition temperature. There was boron-rich coating at low-temperature depo sition, and carbon-rich coating at high-temperature deposition. The morphol ogy and the thickness of the coating have been investigated by using scanni ng electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction spectroscopy.