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Title: Revealing 3D Morphological and Chemical Evolution Mechanisms of Metals in Molten Salt by Multimodal Microscopy

Journal Article · · ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces
ORCiD logo [1];  [2]; ORCiD logo [3]; ORCiD logo [2];  [4]; ORCiD logo [3];  [2]; ORCiD logo [3];  [4];  [4]; ORCiD logo [5]; ORCiD logo [3]; ORCiD logo [3]; ORCiD logo [6]
  1. Stony Brook Univ., NY (United States)
  2. Idaho National Lab. (INL), Idaho Falls, ID (United States)
  3. Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
  4. Brookhaven National Lab. (BNL), Upton, NY (United States). National Synchrotron Light Source II (NSLS-II)
  5. Brookhaven National Lab. (BNL), Upton, NY (United States)
  6. Stony Brook Univ., NY (United States); Brookhaven National Lab. (BNL), Upton, NY (United States). National Synchrotron Light Source II (NSLS-II)

Growing interest in molten salts as effective high-temperature heat-transfer fluids for sustainable energy systems drives a critical need to fundamentally understand the interactions between metals and molten salts. Here, this work utilizes the multimodal microscopy methods of synchrotron X-ray nanotomography and electron microscopy to investigate the 3D morphological and chemical evolution of two-model systems, pure nickel metal and Ni-20Cr binary alloy, in a representative molten salt (KCl-MgCl2 50–50 mol %, 800 °C). In both systems, unexpected shell-like structures formed because of the presence of more noble tungsten, suggesting a potential route of using Ni–W alloys for enhanced molten-salt corrosion resistance. The binary alloy Ni-20Cr developed a bicontinuous porous structure, reassembling functional porous metals manufactured by dealloying. Finally, this work elucidates better mechanistic understanding of corrosion in molten salts, which can contribute to the design of more reliable alloys for molten salt applications including next-generation nuclear and solar power plants and opens the possibility of using molten salts to fabricate functional porous materials.

Research Organization:
Energy Frontier Research Centers (EFRC) (United States). Molten Salts in Extreme Environments (MSEE); Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL), Upton, NY (United States); Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES)
Grant/Contract Number:
SC0012704; AC07-05ID14517; AC05-00OR22725
OSTI ID:
1631921
Alternate ID(s):
OSTI ID: 1619027
Report Number(s):
BNL-215956-2020-JAAM
Journal Information:
ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces, Vol. 12, Issue 15; ISSN 1944-8244
Publisher:
American Chemical Society (ACS)Copyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 18 works
Citation information provided by
Web of Science

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