Gaseous thorium carbides

All the gaseous carbide species ThC (g) with n=l to 6 have been identified mass-spectrometrically by Gupta and Gingerich [1980GUP/GIN], bnt all except ThC2(g) and ThC4(g) are very minor species, and only these latter will be considered in this review. 

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G1N] Gingerich, K. A., The atomization energy of gaseous thorium carbide... 

Carbides of metals and other elements have been produced by this approach, including carbides of boron, silicon, titanium, zirconium, hafnium, vanadium, niobium, molybdenum, tungsten, tantalnm, and thorium (Funke, Klementiev, Kosukhin, 1969 Sheppard Wilson, 1972 MacKinnon Wickens, 1973 Chase, 1974 Steiger Wilson, 1974 Swaney, 1974 MacKinnon Renben, 1975). The produced caibide particles are very small their diameter is usually about 20-200 mu. Halides are mixed with hydrocarbons, usually in a ratio H2 Me = 2-30. The gas mixture is heated up in plasma to temperatures of 1300-4000 K time of synthesis exceeds 50 ms. As an example, production of submicron boron carbide powder from gaseous boron trichloride and methane occurs in the strongly endothermic process ... 

The fuel kernels (approximately 350 microns in diameter) are coated with a porous graphite buffer to absorb gaseous fission products and provide a space for fission gas expansion. Two external coatings of pyrolytic carbon and one external coating of silicon carbide are added to retain the fission products within the fuel particle and buffer region. Fertile thorium oxide particles are fabricated in a similar configuration. 

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