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Title: Hydrothermal Corrosion of First-Generation Dual-Purpose Coatings on Silicon Carbide for Accident-Tolerant Fuel Cladding

Journal Article · · Journal of Nuclear Materials

In this study, four different commercial coatings, TiN, Cr, CrN, and Cr/CrN (multilayer) were deposited by physical vapor deposition (PVD) on high resistivity chemical vapor deposited (CVD) SiC for the dual purpose of corrosion mitigation and fission gas hermeticity. The coatings were exposed for up to 2600 hours in flowing high temperature (288-350°C), high purity, liquid water with dissolved hydrogen (0.15-3ppm) or dissolved oxygen (1-2ppm). The Cr/CrN coatings did not adhere well and spalled quickly during exposure. In oxygenated conditions, none of the coatings were protective . CrN coatings spalled preferentially at defect sites, but reacted slowly enough in the absence of defects to potentially be chemically protective. TiN coatings fully oxidized within a few hundred hours and spalled. In hydrogen, all the coatings were chemically stable. Coating failures were identified and attributed to localized spallation, potentially related to coating defects. Coating improvements are recommended to reduce spallation and improve coating protection for future generations of dual-purpose coatings.

Research Organization:
Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Nuclear Energy (NE), Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Supply Chain. Advanced Fuel Campaign; USDOE
Grant/Contract Number:
AC05-00OR22725
OSTI ID:
1737491
Alternate ID(s):
OSTI ID: 1776058
Journal Information:
Journal of Nuclear Materials, Vol. 544; ISSN 0022-3115
Publisher:
ElsevierCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

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