Properties of Cold-Pressed Metal Hydride Materials for Neutron Shielding in a D–T Fusion Reactor

Thinner radiation shielding materials are desired for deuterium–tritium fusion reactors. Metal hydrides are considered one of the candidate materials because of their high hydrogen density. However, the bulk hydride is brittle and difficult to fabricate. In the present study, titanium- and zirconium-hydride pellets were prepared by cold pressing from their powders to simplify the fabrication process. The pressing strongly deforms the hydride particle; ≈90% of the theoretical density was achieved by cold pressing with the pressure of about 1 GPa. Thermal conductivities of the high-density pellets were comparable with those for the bulk metal hydrides. The results indicate that cold pressing is a promising way of fabricating dense metal hydrides.