Kinetics of reaction with water vapor and ab initio study of titanium beryllide

Beryllium is one of the candidate materials of the neutron multiplier in the tritium-breeding blanket. Titanium beryllides such as Be12Ti are known to have advantages over beryllium from the perspectives of higher melting point, lower chemical reactivity, lower swelling and so forth. The reaction of titanium beryllides with water vapor was investigated. The sample disks of Be12Ti were exposed to an argon gas with 10000 ppm of water vapor, and the sample temperature was raised to 1000 degrees C. However, the chaotic breakaway reaction was not observed. The kinetics of oxidation on the surface of Be12Ti by water vapor was investigated using a model differential equation, and the reaction constant was quantified. Furthermore, to know the electron state in Be12Ti, ab initio calculations of quantum chemistry were performed using CRYSTAL 98. The structure optimization of Be12Ti crystal was attempted, and an electron density map was generated. (c) 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.