Hydrogen trapping and interfacial decohesion at the α-Al2O3(0001)/Fe(110) interface

Fuente: arXiv
Enregistré dans:
Détails bibliographiques
Auteurs principaux: Hwang, Youngseok, Sakaguchi, Norihito, Kunisada, Yuji
Format: Preprint
Publié: 2026
Sujets:
Accès en ligne:
Tags: Ajouter un tag
Pas de tags, Soyez le premier à ajouter un tag!
_version_ 1866911739433451520
author Hwang, Youngseok
Sakaguchi, Norihito
Kunisada, Yuji
author_facet Hwang, Youngseok
Sakaguchi, Norihito
Kunisada, Yuji
contents Hydrogen embrittlement and tritium leakage pose critical challenges for fusion reactor structural components, rendering α-Al2O3/Fe interfaces vital as tritium permeation barriers. Here, the thermodynamic stability, trapping energetics, and hydrogen-induced decohesion at the α-Al2O3 (0001)/Fe(110) interface were systematically investigated using density functional theory. Single-hydrogen incorporation reveals that the Fe-hollow site is the most stable trapping region, owing to local free volume and heterogeneous interfacial bonding. Multi-hydrogen analysis demonstrates that trapping behavior is concentration-dependent; increasing hydrogen concentration progressively reduces the available free volume and increases local lattice distortion. As a result, simulated cleavage processes show a monotonic decrease in cleavage energy with accumulation. At high hydrogen concentrations, cleavage energy turns negative, indicating spontaneous interfacial exfoliation. These quantitative insights clarify the atomistic degradation mechanisms of protective oxide scales, offering a theoretical framework for optimizing high-performance permeation barriers in fusion-relevant steels.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2606_01748
institution arXiv
publishDate 2026
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Hydrogen trapping and interfacial decohesion at the α-Al2O3(0001)/Fe(110) interface
Hwang, Youngseok
Sakaguchi, Norihito
Kunisada, Yuji
Materials Science
Hydrogen embrittlement and tritium leakage pose critical challenges for fusion reactor structural components, rendering α-Al2O3/Fe interfaces vital as tritium permeation barriers. Here, the thermodynamic stability, trapping energetics, and hydrogen-induced decohesion at the α-Al2O3 (0001)/Fe(110) interface were systematically investigated using density functional theory. Single-hydrogen incorporation reveals that the Fe-hollow site is the most stable trapping region, owing to local free volume and heterogeneous interfacial bonding. Multi-hydrogen analysis demonstrates that trapping behavior is concentration-dependent; increasing hydrogen concentration progressively reduces the available free volume and increases local lattice distortion. As a result, simulated cleavage processes show a monotonic decrease in cleavage energy with accumulation. At high hydrogen concentrations, cleavage energy turns negative, indicating spontaneous interfacial exfoliation. These quantitative insights clarify the atomistic degradation mechanisms of protective oxide scales, offering a theoretical framework for optimizing high-performance permeation barriers in fusion-relevant steels.
title Hydrogen trapping and interfacial decohesion at the α-Al2O3(0001)/Fe(110) interface
topic Materials Science
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2606.01748