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Characterization of Lithium Aluminate Powders


EMSL Project ID
6094

Abstract

Enriched lithium aluminate powders have been commercially produced for high-yield, high-through-put, dry press preparation of low temperature sintered pellets. These pellets are used for the tritium target program. Powder production is completed for the near term. However, it may be necessary to produce more such powders in the future. Consequently, it is necessary to reverse engineer the current powders in support of future DOE mission needs. It is known that the powders were made by a mult-step grinding, calcining, spray drying process. However, key details regarding particle size, size distribution, phase composition, and binder and plasticizer content are not known. Simultaneous thermal analysis (DTA/TGA), mass spectroscopy, XPS, XRD, and electron microscopy experiments are planned to characterize these powders.

Project Details

Project type
Exploratory Research
Start Date
2003-12-15
End Date
2006-12-17
Status
Closed

Team

Principal Investigator

Bradley Johnson
Institution
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

Team Members

Todd Hart
Institution
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory