SEM and TEM data of nuclear graphite and glassy carbon microstructures
José David Arregui-Mena,
Robert N. Worth,
William Bodel,
Benjamin März,
Wenjing Li,
Aaron Selby,
Anne A. Campbell,
Cristian Contescu,
Philip D. Edmondson,
Nidia Gallego
Affiliations
José David Arregui-Mena
Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN, 37830, USA; Corresponding author at: Oak Ridge National Laboratory, P.O. Box 2008, MS6148, Oak Ridge, TN 37831-6148
Robert N. Worth
Nuclear Graphite Research Group, Department of Mechanical, Aerospace and Civil Engineering, The University of Manchester, M13 9PL, United Kingdom
William Bodel
Nuclear Graphite Research Group, Department of Mechanical, Aerospace and Civil Engineering, The University of Manchester, M13 9PL, United Kingdom
Benjamin März
Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München (LMU Munich) Department of Chemistry and Center for NanoScience Butenandtstrasse 5–13 (E) 81377 Munich
Wenjing Li
Canadian Nuclear Laboratories, Chalk River, Ontario, Canada, K0J 1J0
Aaron Selby
USNC, 2288 W Commodore Way Suite 300, Seattle, WA 98199
Anne A. Campbell
Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN, 37830, USA
Cristian Contescu
Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN, 37830, USA
Philip D. Edmondson
Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN, 37830, USA; Photon Science Institute, Department of Materials, The University of Manchester, M13 9PL, United Kingdom
Nidia Gallego
Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN, 37830, USA
Micrographs of multiple nuclear graphite grades were captured using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM), complementing the data contained in the related manuscript, “A multi-technique image library of nuclear graphite microstructures of historical and modern grades.” The SEM micrographs show the differences among filler particles, binder, and thermal cracks contained in nuclear graphite. This library of microstructures serves as a baseline of as-received material and enables understanding the phases and differences between nuclear grades. TEM micrographs included in this manuscript elucidate the content of a common material contained in the binder phase known as quinoline insoluble (QI) particles. These particles are a phase of graphite that can be used as a forensic fingerprint of the neutron irradiation effects in graphite. The manuscript also contains some data of glassy carbon, an allotrope of carbon that shares similarities with some of the chaotic structures in nuclear graphite. Combined, these micrographs provide a detailed overview of the microstructures of various graphite grades prior to neutron irradiation.
