Helium permeability of different structure pyrolytic carbon coatings on graphite prepared at low temperature and atmosphere pressure

Abstract Low density isotropic pyrolytic carbon (IPyC) and high density anisotropic pyrolytic carbon (APyC) coatings have been prepared at low temperature and atmosphere pressure. Helium gas permeabilities of nuclear graphite coated with IPyC and APyC of different thickness are studied using a vacuum apparatus. Both the permeation rates of the treated graphite gradually decrease with the increasing thickness of the coatings. The IPyC and APyC coatings can reduce the gas permeability coefficient of the samples by three and five orders of magnitude, respectively. The permeability difference is related to the microscopic structure, i.e., pores, as confirmed by scanning electron microscopy, mercury injection and X-ray tomography experiments. The changes of the permeability owing to heat cycles are observed to be negligible.