Influence of Al Content on Oxidation Resistance of Phase-pure Ti2AlC under Simulated Loss-of-coolant Accident Conditions

doi:10.15541/jim20210029

Journal of Inorganic Materials ›› 2021, Vol. 36 ›› Issue (10): 1097-1102.DOI: 10.15541/jim20210029

Special Issue: 【虚拟专辑】放射性污染物去除(2020~2021)；【结构材料】核用陶瓷

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Influence of Al Content on Oxidation Resistance of Phase-pure Ti₂AlC under Simulated Loss-of-coolant Accident Conditions

LEI Yiming¹^,²(), ZHANG Jie¹(), BAI Guanghai³, ZHANG Yanwei³, WANG Xiaohui¹, WANG Jingyang¹

1. Shenyang National Laboratory for Materials Science, Institute of Metal Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenyang 110016, China
2. School of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Science and Technology of China, Shenyang 110016, China
3. Life Management Technology Center, Suzhou Nuclear Power Research Institute, China Nuclear Power Technology Research Institute, Suzhou 215004, China

Received:2021-01-15 Revised:2021-01-29 Published:2021-10-20 Online:2021-03-01
Contact: ZHANG Jie, professor. E-mail: jiezhang@imr.ac.cn
About author:LEI Yiming (1992–), male, PhD candidate. E-mail: ymlei14s@imr.ac.cn
Supported by:
National Key R&D Program of China(2017YFB0703201);National Natural Science Foundation of China(51772302);National Natural Science Foundation of China-China National Nuclear Corporation Joint Fund(U2067217);Primary Research and Development Project of Suzhou(SGC201840)

Abstract

Abstract:

To tailor Ti₂AlC coatings for the applications in accident tolerant fuels, the oxidation of near-stoichiometric and Al-lean Ti₂AlC was investigated in Ar-41% H₂O atmosphere in 1000-1200 ℃. The oxidation kinetics of phase-pure Ti₂AlC in high-temperature water vapor varied from parabolic to linear rate law with Al content decreasing. Insufficient Al content could not sustain the growth of continuous alumina scales, resulting in formation of thick unprotective TiO₂-based scales. The formation of thin and protective Al₂O₃ scale for Ti₂AlC with stoichiometric composition effectively inhibited the inward diffusion of water vapor. For the application of protective coatings on Zr-based cladding, stoichiometric Ti₂AlC is expected to protect cladding from fast oxidation and improve the accident tolerance in the current light water reactors.

Key words: accident tolerant fuels, Ti₂AlC, water vapor high-temperature oxidation

CLC Number:

TQ174

LEI Yiming, ZHANG Jie, BAI Guanghai, ZHANG Yanwei, WANG Xiaohui, WANG Jingyang. Influence of Al Content on Oxidation Resistance of Phase-pure Ti₂AlC under Simulated Loss-of-coolant Accident Conditions[J]. Journal of Inorganic Materials, 2021, 36(10): 1097-1102.

Figures/Tables 6

Sample	Atomic percent of Ti/%	Atomic percent of Al/%	Atomic percent of C/%	Composition
Near-stoichiometric	(50.25±0.19)	(25.61±0.60)	(24.13±0.61)	Ti₂Al_1.02C
Al-lean	(50.68±0.19)	(22.42±0.86)	(25.90±0.67)	Ti₂Al_0.88C

Fig. 1 XRD patterns of near-stoichiometric and Al-lean samples

Fig. 2 Weight gain per unit surface area as a function of oxidation time for (a) Zr cladding, Al-lean and near-stoichiometric samples oxidized at 1200 ℃, (b) Al-lean sample at 1000-1200 ℃ and (c) near-stoichiometric sample at 1000-1200 ℃, and (d) square of weight gain per unit surface area of near-stoichiometric sample as a function of oxidation time

Fig. 3 Arrhenius plot of the high temperature oxidation rate constants for various candidate materials in air and water vapor[18, 24-26]

Fig. 4 XRD patterns of (a) near-stoichiometric and (b) Al-lean samples after oxidation at 1000-1200 ℃

Fig. 5 Typical surface and cross section morphologies of (a, b) Al-lean and (c, d) near-stoichiometric samples after oxidation at 1200 ℃

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Influence of Al Content on Oxidation Resistance of Phase-pure Ti₂AlC under Simulated Loss-of-coolant Accident Conditions

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