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

Abstract

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. 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. 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.

Authors:
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)
Publication Date:
Research Org.:
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 Org.:
USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES)
OSTI Identifier:
1631921
Alternate Identifier(s):
OSTI ID: 1619027
Report Number(s):
BNL-215956-2020-JAAM
Journal ID: ISSN 1944-8244
Grant/Contract Number:  
SC0012704; AC07-05ID14517; AC05-00OR22725
Resource Type:
Accepted Manuscript
Journal Name:
ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces
Additional Journal Information:
Journal Volume: 12; Journal Issue: 15; Journal ID: ISSN 1944-8244
Publisher:
American Chemical Society (ACS)
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
36 MATERIALS SCIENCE; 37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY; chloride molten salt; high-temperature corrosion; Ni-based alloys; X-ray CT; TXM; molten salt corrosion dealloying; multiscale imaging

Citation Formats

Ronne, Arthur, He, Lingfeng, Dolzhnikov, Dmitriy, Xie, Yi, Ge, Mingyuan, Halstenberg, Phillip, Wang, Yachun, Manard, Benjamin T., Xiao, Xianghui, Lee, Wah-Keat, Sasaki, Kotaro, Dai, Sheng, Mahurin, Shannon M., and Chen-Wiegart, Yu-chen Karen. Revealing 3D Morphological and Chemical Evolution Mechanisms of Metals in Molten Salt by Multimodal Microscopy. United States: N. p., 2020. Web. doi:10.1021/acsami.9b19099.
Ronne, Arthur, He, Lingfeng, Dolzhnikov, Dmitriy, Xie, Yi, Ge, Mingyuan, Halstenberg, Phillip, Wang, Yachun, Manard, Benjamin T., Xiao, Xianghui, Lee, Wah-Keat, Sasaki, Kotaro, Dai, Sheng, Mahurin, Shannon M., & Chen-Wiegart, Yu-chen Karen. Revealing 3D Morphological and Chemical Evolution Mechanisms of Metals in Molten Salt by Multimodal Microscopy. United States. https://doi.org/10.1021/acsami.9b19099
Ronne, Arthur, He, Lingfeng, Dolzhnikov, Dmitriy, Xie, Yi, Ge, Mingyuan, Halstenberg, Phillip, Wang, Yachun, Manard, Benjamin T., Xiao, Xianghui, Lee, Wah-Keat, Sasaki, Kotaro, Dai, Sheng, Mahurin, Shannon M., and Chen-Wiegart, Yu-chen Karen. Thu . "Revealing 3D Morphological and Chemical Evolution Mechanisms of Metals in Molten Salt by Multimodal Microscopy". United States. https://doi.org/10.1021/acsami.9b19099. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1631921.
@article{osti_1631921,
title = {Revealing 3D Morphological and Chemical Evolution Mechanisms of Metals in Molten Salt by Multimodal Microscopy},
author = {Ronne, Arthur and He, Lingfeng and Dolzhnikov, Dmitriy and Xie, Yi and Ge, Mingyuan and Halstenberg, Phillip and Wang, Yachun and Manard, Benjamin T. and Xiao, Xianghui and Lee, Wah-Keat and Sasaki, Kotaro and Dai, Sheng and Mahurin, Shannon M. and Chen-Wiegart, Yu-chen Karen},
abstractNote = {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. 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. 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.},
doi = {10.1021/acsami.9b19099},
journal = {ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces},
number = 15,
volume = 12,
place = {United States},
year = {Thu Mar 26 00:00:00 EDT 2020},
month = {Thu Mar 26 00:00:00 EDT 2020}
}

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