Andrzej Deptula1, Wiesława Lada1, Tadeusz Olczak1, Bożena Sartowska1, Andrzej G. Chmielewski1, Carlo Alvani2, Sergio Casadio2
1Institute of Nuclear Chemistry and Technology, 16 Dorodna Str., 03-195 Warsaw, Poland,
2Italian Agency for the New Technologies, Energy and Environment (ENEA), C.R.E. Casaccia, Italy
Medium sized spherical particles of Li2TiO3 (with diameters below 100 mm) can be prepared from peroxy lithium titanate solution (stabilized with citric acid) by a modified INCT variant of the sol-gel process. The process consists of the following main steps: (I) formation of aqueous phase emulsion in 2-ethylhexanol-1 containing the surfactants 1v/o SPAN-80 and 1 v/o Ethomen S-15 (EH); (II) gelation of emulsion drops by extraction of water with partially dehydrated EH; (III) filtration and washing with carbon tetrachloride or acetone; (IV) non-destructive thermal treatment. The tritium release from sol-gel process preparation of Li2TiO3 micro-spheres was found very close to that observed for other traditional material however, the new process is more efficient than other processes because of the morphology of the sintered specimens.