SiC coating is produced on a nuclear graphite (NG) substrate using chemical vapor deposition at 1150 °C to protect it from molten salt diffusion . Infiltration studies, performed in molten FLiNaK salt under an argon atmosphere at 5 atm, show that uncoated NG exhibits significantly higher weight gain than SiC-coated NG. The continuous and compact SiC coating exhibits excellent infiltration resistance in liquid fluoride salt as confirmed by synchrotron radiation X-ray microbeam fluorescence.
Infiltration studies were performed on uncoated nuclear graphite and isotropic pyrolytic carbon (PyC) coated graphite in molten FLiNaK salt at 650 °C under argon atmosphere at 1, 3 and 5 atm. Uncoated graphite shows weight gain more obviously than that of PyC coated graphite. Nuclear graphite with PyC coating exhibits excellent infiltration resistance in molten salt due to the small open porosity as conformed from scanning electron microscopy and mercury injection experiments.