• Journal of the Korean Ceramic Society
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• v.28 no.4
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• pp.315-323
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• 1991

The preparation of zirconium carbide powders by the halogenide process of ZrCl4-C-Mg system (1:1:2, molar ratio) was studied between 300。 and 120$0^{\circ}C$ under Ar gas flow (200 mι/min). The formation mechanism and kinetics of zirconium carbide and characteristics of the synthesized powder were examined by TG-DTA, XRD, SEM and PSA. 1) The formation mechanism of zirconium carbide were as follows, above 30$0^{\circ}C$ ZrCl4(S)+Mg(s)longrightarrowZrCl2(s)+MgCl2(s) above 40$0^{\circ}C$ ZrCl2(S)+Mg(s)longrightarrowZr(s)+MgCl2(s) above 50$0^{\circ}C$ Zr(s)+C(s)longrightarrowZrC(s) 2) The apparent activation energy of the reduction-carbonization at temperature of 800$^{\circ}$to 100$0^{\circ}C$ was 11.9 kcal/mol. 3) The lattice parameter and the crystallite size of ZrC which was produced from the mixture powder of ZrCl4, C and Mg (1:1:2, molar ratio) at 100$0^{\circ}C$ for 1 h were 4.700A and 180A, respectively. 4) The powders obtained from the mixture powder of ZrCl4, C and Mg(1:1:2, molar ratio) at 100$0^{\circ}C$ for 1 h were agglomerate with the average size of about 13${\mu}{\textrm}{m}$ in SEM micrograph.

• Journal of the Korean Ceramic Society
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• v.32 no.6
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• pp.659-668
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• 1995

Zirconium carbide was prepared from the mixture of metal zirconium and carbon powders in argon atmosphere by Self-propagating High-temperature Synthesis (SHS) in order to obtain the best carbon source and dilution contents. The most exellent result was obtained in the case that active carbon was added as a starting material, 20~30 wt% dilution content. From thermal profile analysis an apparent activation energy of 118 KJ/mol was calculated. The maximum heating rate achieved during 15 wt% ZrC reaction by product dilution method was approximately 1.54$\times$105 K/s. Coupling this value with the measured wave velocity of 1.026cm/s yielded a maximum thermal gradient fo $1.5\times$105 K/cm. Using the definition of t* and the measured wave velocity, the effective thermal diffusivity, $\alpha$, was calculated to be 0.62$\times$102 $\textrm{cm}^2$/s.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers Conference
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• 2009.11a
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• pp.87-87
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• 2009

The composites were fabricated by adding 30, 40, 50, 60[vol.%] Zirconium Diboride(hereafter, $ZrB_2$) powders as a second phase to Silicon Carbide(hereafter, SiC) matrix. SiC-$ZrB_2$ composites were sintered by Spark Plasma Sintering(hereafter, SPS) in argon gas atmosphere. The relative density SiC+30[vol.%]$ZrB_2$, SiC+40[vol.%]$ZrB_2$, SiC+50[vol.%]$ZrB_2$ and SiC+60[vol.%]$ZrB_2$ composites are 94.98[%], 99.57[%], 96.58[%] and 93.62[%] respectively.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers Conference
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• 2010.06a
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• pp.314-314
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• 2010

The SiC-$ZrB_2$ composites were fabricated by combining 40vol.% of Zirconium Diboride(hereafter, $ZrB_2$) powders with Silicon Carbide(hereafter, SiC) matrix. TheSiC+40vol.%$ZrB_2$ composites were manufactured through Spark Plasma Sintering(hereafter, SPS) under argon atmosphere, uniaxial pressure of 50MPa, heating rate of $100^{\circ}C$/min, sintering temperature of $1,500^{\circ}C$ and holding time of 5min. But one on/off pulse sequence(one pulse time: 2.78ms) is 10:9(hereafter, SZ10), and the other is 48:8(hereafter, SZ48). The physical and mechanical properties of the SZ12 and SZ48 were examined. Reactions between $\beta$-SiC and $ZrB_2$ were not observed via X-Ray Diffraction(hereafter, XRD) analysis. The apparent porosity of the SZ10 and SZ48 composites were 9.7455 and 12.2766%, respectively. The SZ10 composite, 593.87MPa, had higher flexural strength than the SZ48 composite, 324.78MPa, at room temperature. The electrical properties of the SiC-$ZrB_2$ composites had Positive Temperature Coefficient Resistance(hereafter, PTCR).

• Journal of the Korean Ceramic Society
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• v.45 no.4
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• pp.245-249
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• 2008

The SiC and ZrC are critical and essential materials in TRISO coated fuel particles since they act as protective layers against diffusion of metallic and gaseous fission products and provides mechanical strength for the fuel particle. However, SiC and ZrC have critical disadvantage that SiC loses chemical integrity by thermal dissociation at high temperature and mechanical properties of ZrC are weaker than SiC. In order to complement these problems, we made new combinations of the coating layers that the ZrC layers composed of SiC. In this study, after Silicon carbide(SiC) were chemically vapor deposited on graphite substrate, Zirconium carbide(ZrC) were deposited on SiC/graphite substrate by using Zr reaction technology with Zr sponge materials. The different morphologies of sub-deposited SiC layers were correlated with microstructure, chemical composition and mechanical properties of deposited ZrC films. Relationships between deposition pressure and microstructure of deposited ZrC films were discussed. The deposited ZrC films on SiC of faceted structure with smaller grain size has better mechanical properties than deposited ZrC on another structure due to surface growth trend and microstructure of sub-deposited layer.

• Journal of the Korean Ceramic Society
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• v.44 no.10
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• pp.580-584
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• 2007

The ZrC layer instead of SiC layer is a critical and essential layer in TRISO coated fuel particles since it is a protective layer against diffusion of fission products and provides mechanical strength for the fuel particle. In this study, we carried out computational simulation before actual experiment. With these simulation results, Zirconium carbide (ZrC) films were chemically vapor deposited on $ZrO_2$ substrate using zirconium tetrachloride $(ZrCl_4),\;CH_4$ as a source and $H_2$ dilution gas, respectively. The change of input gas ratio was correlated with growth rate and morphology of deposited ZrC films. The growth rate of ZrC films increased as the input gas ratio decreased. The microstructure of ZrC films was changed with input gas ratio; small granular type grain structure was exhibited at the low input gas ratio. Angular type structure of increased grain size was observed at the high input gas ratio.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.48 no.3
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• pp.727-732
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• 2016

A simple and rapid spectrophotometric method has been developed to enable the determination of plutonium concentration in an irradiated fuel solution in the presence of all fission products. An excess of ceric ammonium nitrate solution was employed to oxidize all the valence states of plutonium to +6 oxidation state. Interference due to the presence of fission products such as ruthenium and zirconium, and corrosion products such as iron in the envisaged concentration range, as in the irradiated fuel solution, was studied in the determination of plutonium concentration by the direct spectrophotometric method. The stability of plutonium in +6 oxidation state was monitored under experimental conditions as a function of time. Results obtained are reproducible, and this method is applicable to radioactive samples resulting before the solvent extraction process during the reprocessing of fast reactor spent fuel. An analysis of the concentration of plutonium shows a relative standard deviation of <1.2% in standard as well as in simulated conditions. This reflects the fast reactor fuel composition with respect to uranium, plutonium, fission products such as ruthenium and zirconium, and corrosion products such as iron.

• Journal of Radiation Industry
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• v.4 no.3
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• pp.265-269
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• 2010

Silicon-based non-oxide ceramic carbide fiber is one of the leading candidate ceramic materials for engineering applications because of its excellent mechanical properties at high temperature and good chemical resistance. In this study, polycarbosilane(PCS) and zirconium butoxide were used as a precursor to prepare polyzirconocarbosilane (PZC) fibers. A polymer solution was prepared by dissolving PCS in zirconium butoxide (50/50 wt%). This solution was heated at $250^{\circ}C$ in a nitrogen atmosphere for 2 hour with stirring, and then dried in a vacuum oven for 48 hour. PZC fibers were fabricated using an electrospinning technique. The fibers were irradiated with an electron beam to induce structural crosslinking. Crosslinked PZC fibers were heat treated at $1,300^{\circ}C$ in a nitrogen atmosphere. The microstructures of PZC fibers were examined by SEM. Chemical structures of PZC fibers were examined by FT-IR and XRD. Thermal stability of PZC fibers was investigated by TGA.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers Conference
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• 2009.11a
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• pp.105-105
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• 2009

The composites were fabricated by adding 30, 35, 40, 45[vol.%] Zirconium Diboride(hereafter, $ZrB_2$) powders as a second phase to Silicon Carbide(hereafter, SiC) matrix. $SiC-ZrB_2$ composites were sintered by Spark Plasma Sintering(hereafter, SPS) in vacuum or argon gas atmosphere. The relative density of SiC+40[vol.%]$ZrB_2$ composites reveal high 99.57[%] in argon gas atmosphere and pressure 50MPa.

• Journal of the Korean Ceramic Society
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• v.33 no.12
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• pp.1380-1386
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• 1996

The effects of urea addition and reaction conditions were examined in the prepareation of zirconia coated SiC whiskers through surface precipitation taking place during high-temperature aging of Zr(SO4)2 solutions containing the whiskers. More dense zirconia-hydrate was precipitated on the surfaces of the whiskers in the presence of urea. The ratio of the concentration of Zr(SO4)2 to the amount of added whiskers was the most important factor to confine the precipitation of zirconia-hydrate only at the surfaces of the whiskers The from of the coating layers was unchanged after heat-treatment leading to the dehydration and crystallization of the layers.