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Revealing atomic-to-nanoscale oxidation mechanisms of metallic materials

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Abstract

Oxidation and corrosion are the leading causes of degradation and failure of metallic materials. Future alloy development requires the incorporation of corrosion resistance into alloy design and processing, and this begins with attaining a fundamental insight into dynamic reaction mechanisms and kinetics between a metal and aggressive environments. With recent advances in environmental transmission electron microscopy, there have been increased efforts to apply this approach to atomically probe the microscopic mechanisms that govern the oxidation and corrosion behavior of metallic materials. Consequently, fundamental insights have been obtained in understanding the underlying processes of oxidation and passivation, including active sites, surface restructuring, oxide/metal interface dynamics, and microstructure and phase evolution. In addition, we discuss ongoing and future developments that are expected to significantly advance the field of high-temperature oxidation and corrosion.

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Acknowledgments

G.W.Z. acknowledges support from the US Department of Energy (DOE), Office of Basic Energy Sciences, Division of Materials Sciences and Engineering under Award No. DE-SC0001135. The research on β-NiAl was sponsored by the Laboratory Directed Research and Development Program of Oak Ridge National Laboratory, managed by UT-Battelle LLC, for the DOE. Part of the capability to introduce water vapor into the in situ gas cell was developed in collaboration with ChemCatBio, a member of the Energy Materials Network, and was supported by the DOE Bioenergy Technology Office under Contract No. DE-AC05-00OR22725 with Oak Ridge National Laboratory. C.M.W. was supported by the DOE, Office of Basic Energy Sciences. The work was conducted in the William R. Wiley Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory (EMSL), a DOE User Facility operated by Battelle for the DOE Office of Biological and Environmental Research. Pacific Northwest National Laboratory is operated for the DOE under Contract No. DE-AC06-76RLO 1830. S.J.H. acknowledges funding support from the European Union Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme European Research Council Starting Grant EvoluTEM (No. 715502). Some of the research in this article used electron microscopy and surface science instruments of the Center for Functional Nanomaterials (CFN), which is a DOE Office of Science User Facility, at Brookhaven National Laboratory under Contract No. DE-SC0012704.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Mechanical Engineering & Materials Science and Engineering Program, Binghamton University, The State University of New York, Binghamton, USA

    Guangwen Zhou

  2. Center for Nanophase Materials Sciences, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, USA

    Kinga A. Unocic

  3. Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland, USA

    Chongmin Wang

  4. Center for Advancing Materials Performance From the Nanoscale & Hysitron Applied Research Center in China, State Key Laboratory for Mechanical Behavior of Materials, Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an, China

    Zhiwei Shan

  5. School of Materials, The University of Manchester, Manchester, UK

    Sarah J. Haigh

  6. Center for Functional Nanomaterials, Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton, USA

    Judith C. Yang

  7. Department of Chemical and Petroleum Engineering, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, USA

    Judith C. Yang

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  1. Guangwen Zhou
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Zhou, G., Unocic, K.A., Wang, C. et al. Revealing atomic-to-nanoscale oxidation mechanisms of metallic materials. MRS Bulletin 48, 852–863 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1557/s43577-023-00595-4

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