Identification number: LZP-2024/1-0162
Type: Latvian Council of Science Fundamental and Applied Research project
Duration: 01.01.2025. - 31.12.2027.
Project Leader: Dr. Artūrs Zariņš, University of Latvia
Responsible person from ISSP UL: Guna Doķe, Institute of Solid State Physics University of Latvia (ISSP UL)
Project partners: University of Latvia
Total funding: 300 000 EUR
ISSP UL funding: 120 000 EUR
Project summary:
Advanced ceramic breeder pebbles consisting of lithium orthosilicate as the primary phase and lithium metatitanate as the secondary phase are developed as the European Union’s reference material for tritium breeding in future thermonuclear fusion reactors. The aim of this applied research project is to characterise the influence of stoichiometry on radiation-induced effects in single- and two-phase lithium orthosilicate-lithium metatitanate samples exposed to X-rays. The samples without and with deficiency and excess of lithium, silicon, and titanium will be prepared using the solid-state synthesis method and analysed using different physico-chemical methods. Rietveld analysis of high-resolution powder X-ray diffraction (PXRD) patterns will be employed to determine the potential changes of crystalline phase lattice parameters and atomic positions. The formed and accumulated paramagnetic radiation-induced defect centres will be studied using electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectroscopy. The scientific findings will be published in internationally peer-reviewed journals or conference proceedings (Q1 and Q2), which are indexed in the Scopus and Web of Science databases. The obtained results will be used to prepare project proposals for submission in Latvian and international calls for research and development projects. This project will contribute to the Smart Specialisation Strategy (RIS3) area “Smart energetics” and to the development of international nuclear energy sector.