Study of the microstructure evolution of zirconium alloy during deuterium absorption at high temperature

In the exploration of fusion power, zirconium alloy has been viewed as a potential deuterium storage material to store and deliver deuterium fuel into fusion reactors, due to its large deuterium storage capacity, low deuterium desorption pressure and fast deuterium absorption kinetics. But it often cracks after deuterium absorption. In this study, the microstructure and deuterium absorption kinetic of β-Zr in various deuteriding conditions (pressure, time and temperature) were investigated. The results showed that, with the increase of deuteriding pressures from 1 bar to 3 bar at 1173 K, the deuteride content and the deuteride morphology changed significantly. During deuterium absorption at 3 bar, the surface deuteride layer was formed first, and then the inner deuteride network was gradually developed with the time. There existed an apparent deuterium concentration gradient from surface to center. With the increase of deuteriding temperatures from 973 K to 1173 K, the deuteride content decreased. The kinetic of deuterium absorption at 1173 K was found to be affected by the deuteriding pressures. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) results showed that ε deuterides nucleated and grew at the interface of δ deuterides, and small bands with different crystal orientation were found within the ε deuterides. The γ deuterides were found at 3 bar, within which twins and tweed structure were observed. An orientation relationship of <011>δ//<011>ε, {111}δ//{111}ε between δ and ε deuterides was also determined by TEM analysis.