In-situ measurements of corrosion by neutron reflectivity

Important results from the project

The aim of this project was to use neutron reflectivity to study how the presence of hydrogen affects the spontaneous growth of a protective surface oxide layers on a FeCr alloy. The project is a collaboration between Sandvik Materials Technology (SMT) and Chalmers. An understanding of the detrimental effects of hydrogen are critical for future product development. However, the experimental challenges where more difficult than anticipated, e.g. how the surface roughness increased upon oxidation.

Expected long term effects

The project, in part, aimed to broaden the scope of neutron reflectivity and to learn more about the challenges and opportunities it involves investigating corrosion processes on metal alloys at high temperatures. One important experience of the project is that the experimental challenges are difficult and needs to be worked around. However, neutron reflectivity is still a promising technique for studying the hydrogen´s impact on high temperature corrosion processes.

Approach and implementation

The project had an ambitious experimental plan which aimed to study more and more complex material system with neutron reflectivity starting with a polished non-oxidized sample and ending up with a specialized sample cell developed to enable the study of the dual atmosphere effect in a neutron beamline. Experiments was performed at the Swedish neutron reflectometer Super-Adam at the Institut Laue-Langevin (ILL) in Grenoble, France.