Development of doped graphites for plasma-facing components

Doping of carbon leads to a reduction of chemical erosion. This reduction is more effective if dopants are in the form of sub-μm precipitates with a very homogeneous distribution. However, dopants should not degrade but rather improve the thermal conductivity of graphite. Taking into account the catalytic effect of some metals and carbides on the graphitization, the potential for a development of improved doped carbon materials with reduced chemical erosion and optimized thermomechanical properties becomes evident. First results on the development of doped carbon materials starting from mesophase carbon powder and with different fine grain carbides as dopants show that VC acts as an effective catalyst for the graphitization. The materials obtained show high densities, a relatively low open porosity and good mechanical properties.