Abstract
This manuscript provides optical microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, and transmission electron microscopy micrographs that show the microstructure of three superfine nuclear graphite grades IG-110, 2114 and ETU-10. This collection of microstructural data showcases the microstructure of these materials and helps to differentiate the most important features or phases of these graphite grades. In particular, the microstructural data illustrate the filler and binder morphology of these grades. Moreover, samples of as-received and oxidized IG-110 were characterized via optical microscopy and x-ray computed tomography. The microstructural data of oxidized IG-110 shows the porosity generated by oxidation experiments. These micrographs and data provide a unique insight into the microstructural features and oxidation effects in nuclear graphite and can be used to perform quantitative porosity analysis. This collection of microstructural data complements the modeling and characterization described in the associated manuscript, “Using porous random fields to predict the elastic modulus of unoxidized and oxidized superfine graphite (Arregui-Mena et al., 2022).”
