Initiator enhancement of mandrel degradation for ICF target fabrication

Qiang Chen; Yu Zhu; Zhanwen Zhang; Jiajun Ma; Zhibing He; Zhigang Wang

doi:10.1016/j.isci.2022.104733

Initiator enhancement of mandrel degradation for ICF target fabrication

iScience. 2022 Jul 9;25(8):104733. doi: 10.1016/j.isci.2022.104733. eCollection 2022 Aug 19.

Authors

Qiang Chen¹, Yu Zhu², Zhanwen Zhang¹, Jiajun Ma³, Zhibing He¹, Zhigang Wang²

Affiliations

¹ Laser Fusion Research Center, China Academy of Engineering Physics, Mianyang 621900, China.
² Institute of Atomic and Molecular Physics, Jilin University, Changchun 130012, China.
³ State Key Laboratory of Environmental-friendly Energy Materials, School of Material Science and Engineering Southwest University of Science and Technology, Mianyang 621010, China.

Abstract

Poly-α-methylstyrene (PAMS), as an ideal mandrel material used in the fabrication of inertial confinement fusion (ICF) targets, its efficient degradation is the key to the quality of targets. However, there is a great challenge to achieve enhanced degradation. Here, we proposed the strategy to optimize the degradation of PAMS microspheres using di-tert-butyl peroxide (DTBP) as a degradation initiator. Experimentally, monodisperse PAMS microspheres with DTBP were controllably prepared by a microfluidic-based microencapsulation technique. Thermogravimetric results show that DTBP largely decreases the initial degradation temperature from 550 K to 450 K, which effectively promotes the thermal degradation of PAMS microspheres. Theoretically, DTBP can reduce the activation energy of degradation. Moreover, the potential energy surfaces were used to describe the degradation process at the atomic level. Our work brings a new direction for the study of mandrel degradation in ICF targets fabrication, and also provides a valuable reference for solving the pollution of waste plastics.

Keywords: Atomic interactions; Nuclear physics; Plasma confinement.