The mechanism of hydrogen-accelerated melting of polycrystalline copper

We investigate the melting process of polycrystalline copper doped with hydrogen atoms by using the newly developed Cu/H ReaxFF force field. Hydrogen atoms are found to effectively promote the melting of copper, and even make it happen at temperatures below the equilibrium melting temperature of copper during rapid heating. The enhanced melting is closely relevant to the interaction of hydrogen atoms with the grain boundary. We find that host Cu atoms perform cooperative vibration around the grain boundaries as the precursor of premelting. The doping of hydrogen atoms is shown to drive the vibration more violent so that the grain boundary becomes broader and the premelting is prematurely triggered. Meanwhile, hydrogen atoms segregated in grain boundaries massively diffuse into the bulk region with increasing temperature, resulting in intensification of lattice distortion of the bulk phase. This facilitates the rapid advancement of the liquid-solid interface during melting in contrast to the slow and discontinuous interface advancement in hydrogen-free polycrystalline copper. Our results suggest that even a small amount of hydrogen atoms is expected to significantly affect the thermodynamic properties of metals with the existence of structural defects.