Fusion Research Team Unlocks Mystery Surrounding Harnessing of Fusion Energy
An article in e! describes the advances that a multi-institution fusion research team has made in understanding the role that lithium plays in harnessing fusion energy. One of the main obstacles to fusion energy is controlling the hot gases – plasma – needed to fuse hydrogen atoms together. However, the research team has discovered how lithium affects the behavior of the plasma. From the article:
“How lithium coatings on graphite surfaces control plasma behavior has largely remained a mystery until our team was able to combine predictions from quantum-mechanical supercomputer simulations on the Kraken and Jaguar systems at Oak Ridge National Laboratory and in situ experimental results from the Purdue group to explain the causes of the delicate tunability of plasma behavior by a complex lithiated graphitic system,” Krstic said. “Surprisingly, we find that the presence of oxygen in the surface plays the key role in the bonding of deuterium, while lithium’s main role is to bring the oxygen to the surface. Deuterium atoms preferentially bind with oxygen and carbon-oxygen when there is a comparable amount of oxygen to lithium at the surface. That finding well matches a number of controversial experimental results obtained within the last decade.”
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