Uranium carbide, a
carbide
In chemistry, a carbide usually describes a compound composed of carbon and a metal. In metallurgy, carbiding or carburizing is the process for producing carbide coatings on a metal piece.
Interstitial / Metallic carbides
The carbides of the ...
of
uranium
Uranium is a chemical element with the symbol U and atomic number 92. It is a silvery-grey metal in the actinide series of the periodic table. A uranium atom has 92 protons and 92 electrons, of which 6 are valence electrons. Uranium is weak ...
, is a hard
refractory
In materials science, a refractory material or refractory is a material that is resistant to decomposition by heat, pressure, or chemical attack, and retains strength and form at high temperatures. Refractories are polycrystalline, polyphase, ...
ceramic
A ceramic is any of the various hard, brittle, heat-resistant and corrosion-resistant materials made by shaping and then firing an inorganic, nonmetallic material, such as clay, at a high temperature. Common examples are earthenware, porcelain ...
material. It comes in several
stoichiometries
Stoichiometry refers to the relationship between the quantities of reactants and products before, during, and following chemical reactions.
Stoichiometry is founded on the law of conservation of mass where the total mass of the reactants equals ...
(''x'' differs in ), such as uranium methanide (UC,
CAS number
A CAS Registry Number (also referred to as CAS RN or informally CAS Number) is a unique identification number assigned by the Chemical Abstracts Service (CAS), US to every chemical substance described in the open scientific literature. It inclu ...
12070-09-6), uranium
sesquicarbide
In chemistry, a carbide usually describes a compound composed of carbon and a metal. In metallurgy, carbiding or carburizing is the process for producing carbide coatings on a metal piece.
Interstitial / Metallic carbides
The carbides of the ...
(U
2C
3, CAS number 12076-62-9),
and uranium
acetylide
In organometallic chemistry, acetylide refers to chemical compounds with the chemical formulas and , where M is a metal. The term is used loosely and can refer to substituted acetylides having the general structure (where R is an organic side c ...
(UC
2, CAS number 12071-33-9).
Like
uranium dioxide
Uranium dioxide or uranium(IV) oxide (), also known as urania or uranous oxide, is an oxide of uranium, and is a black, radioactive, crystalline powder that naturally occurs in the mineral uraninite. It is used in nuclear fuel rods in nuclear rea ...
and some other uranium compounds, uranium carbide can be used as a
nuclear fuel
Nuclear fuel is material used in nuclear power stations to produce heat to power turbines. Heat is created when nuclear fuel undergoes nuclear fission.
Most nuclear fuels contain heavy fissile actinide elements that are capable of undergoing ...
for
nuclear reactor
A nuclear reactor is a device used to initiate and control a fission nuclear chain reaction or nuclear fusion reactions. Nuclear reactors are used at nuclear power plants for electricity generation and in nuclear marine propulsion. Heat from nu ...
s, usually in the form of pellets or tablets. Uranium carbide fuel was used in late designs of
nuclear thermal rocket
A nuclear thermal rocket (NTR) is a type of thermal rocket where the heat from a nuclear reaction, often nuclear fission, replaces the chemical energy of the propellants in a chemical rocket. In an NTR, a working fluid, usually liquid hydro ...
s.
Uranium carbide pellets are used as fuel kernels for the US version of
pebble bed reactor
The pebble-bed reactor (PBR) is a design for a graphite-moderated, gas-cooled nuclear reactor. It is a type of very-high-temperature reactor (VHTR), one of the six classes of nuclear reactors in the Generation IV initiative.
The basic desig ...
s; the German version uses
uranium dioxide
Uranium dioxide or uranium(IV) oxide (), also known as urania or uranous oxide, is an oxide of uranium, and is a black, radioactive, crystalline powder that naturally occurs in the mineral uraninite. It is used in nuclear fuel rods in nuclear rea ...
instead.
As nuclear fuel, uranium carbide can be used either on its own, or mixed with
plutonium carbide
Plutonium carbide comes in several stoichiometries (PuC and Pu2C3).
It can be used as a nuclear fuel for nuclear reactors in conjunction with uranium carbide
Uranium carbide, a carbide of uranium, is a hard refractory ceramic material. It co ...
(PuC and Pu
2C
3). The mixture is also labeled as
uranium-plutonium carbide ( (U,Pu)C ).
Uranium carbide is also a popular target material for
particle accelerator
A particle accelerator is a machine that uses electromagnetic fields to propel charged particles to very high speeds and energies, and to contain them in well-defined beams.
Large accelerators are used for fundamental research in particle ...
s.
Ammonia
Ammonia is an inorganic compound of nitrogen and hydrogen with the formula . A stable binary hydride, and the simplest pnictogen hydride, ammonia is a colourless gas with a distinct pungent smell. Biologically, it is a common nitrogenous was ...
synthesis from nitrogen and hydrogen is sometimes accomplished in the presence of uranium carbide acting as a catalyst.
[
]
See also
*
Uranium boride
Uranium boride (UB2), a compound of uranium and boron, is a very stable glassy boride material that is insoluble in water.
It is being explored as an ingredient in high entropy alloys, and as a method of immobilizing uranium-based radioactive wa ...
*
Thorium carbide
Thorium(IV) carbide ( Th C) is an inorganic thorium compound and a carbide
In chemistry, a carbide usually describes a compound composed of carbon and a metal. In metallurgy, carbiding or carburizing is the process for producing carbide co ...
References
Carbides
Uranium compounds
Nuclear materials
Rock salt crystal structure
{{Inorganic-compound-stub