Isotropic pyrolytic carbon (IPyC) prepared at 1300 °C by chemical vapor deposition was implanted with 129Xe26+ ions to obtain a wide range of information and understanding about the coating materials in nuclear energy field. Microstructure of the pristine and ion-implanted IPyC on nuclear graphite substrate was firstly investigated using polarized light microscopy, scanning and transmission electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, Raman spectroscopy, nanoindentation, and X-ray photoemission spectroscopy. It was demonstrated that the Xe ion irradiation resulted in concurrent changes in both physical and chemical structures of our standard polycrystalline sample. Influences of the thermal annealing temperature on the properties of the implanted IPyC at 500 and 1000 °C were also studied. Ion-irradiation gave rise to the formation of structural deterioration along a and c axis, accompanying with the appearance of widespread clastic morphology among the irradiated zone of IPyC. There was a dose window that could be used to tune the mechanical properties of IPyC: the nanohardness and Young’s modulus increased after an irradiation, but decreased as the amorphization was reached.

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.