Application of Boron Carbide in Nuclear Industry
Boron carbide has a high neutron absorption cross section and a wide energy spectrum for absorbing neutrons, and is often used as a neutron absorbing material for nuclear reactors. Among them, the thermal cross section of the boron-10 isotope is as high as 347×10-24cm2, second only to a few elements such as gadolinium, samarium and cadmium, and it is an efficient thermal neutron absorber. In addition, boron carbide is rich in resources, resistant to corrosion, has good thermal stability, does not produce radioactive isotopes, and has low secondary ray energy, so boron carbide is widely used as a control material and shielding material in nuclear reactors. Grossman et al. applied boron carbide ceramic coating to the nuclear industry and achieved quite good results.