About this Abstract |
Meeting |
2020 TMS Annual Meeting & Exhibition
|
Symposium
|
Computational Materials Science and Engineering of Materials in Nuclear Reactors
|
Presentation Title |
Corrosion of Silicon Carbide in Nuclear Environments |
Author(s) |
Izabela A. Szlufarska, Jianqi Xi, Cheng Liu, Dane Morgan |
On-Site Speaker (Planned) |
Izabela A. Szlufarska |
Abstract Scope |
Due to its excellent physical and chemical properties, SiC has been known for its potential as a structural material in nuclear reactors. One of the remaining issues that can limit usability of this material is corrosion. In this talk, I will discuss our theoretical studies of SiC corrosion exposed to molten salt and hydrothermal water. For molten salt, we show that Si dissolves into the salt much easier than C, thus leaving a C-rich layer during corrosion. A strategy to suppress SiC corrosion is discussed based on Be doping of the coolant. For hydrothermal water, we identify mechanisms of water attack on SiC surface. Specifically, we discover that attack of water on SiC occurs by a hydrogen scission reaction in which H breaks a Si-C backbond and leads to disordering of the surface. Hydrogen scission occurs originates from a new metastable species (bridging hydroxyl group) also discovered in our study. |
Proceedings Inclusion? |
Planned: Supplemental Proceedings volume |