LAUSR

To optimize the performance of the carbon fiber reinforced carbon matrix (C/C) composites by controlling the microstructure for more reliable and safety application in thorium molten salt reactor (hereafter, TMSR), we have investigated the irradiation effects of fiber, matrix, and their interfaces in C/C composite induced by He+ ions and further reveal their corresponding micromechanism. Compared with fibers, an obviously fragmented surface morphology in matrix appears and then gradually becomes widespread around the surface of C/C composite with increasing dose of irradiation. This found is attributed to the breakage of crystallites observed by synchrotron-based grazing incidence X-ray diffraction (GIXRD) and the increase of defect state density revealed by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and Raman spectroscopy, respectively. Three different microstructure evolutions in fiber, matrix and fiber-matrix interface induced by irradiation damage have been further revealed in detail by transmission elect...