Realizing irradiation-resistant metallic alloys by immobilizing induced defects

Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• Nuclear Engineering
• Metallurgy

Background:

• Advanced fission and fusion technologies require materials that can withstand extreme conditions.
• Suppression of defect evolution is crucial for preventing mechanical degradation in structural materials under irradiation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To present a novel strategy for immobilizing irradiation-induced defects by tuning local lattice distortion.
• To investigate the effect of local lattice distortion on microstructural changes in concentrated solid solution alloys.

Main Methods:

• Utilizing concentrated solid solution alloys with varying degrees of local lattice distortion.
• Analyzing microstructural changes and defect motion under irradiation conditions.

Main Results:

• Increasing local lattice distortion significantly suppresses irradiation-induced microstructural changes.
• The Ni80Mo20 alloy, with the highest lattice distortion (4.82% atomic size mismatch), exhibited frozen defect motion.
• Negligible irradiation-induced effects were observed in the Ni80Mo20 alloy.

Conclusions:

• Engineering local lattice distortion is an effective strategy for developing irradiation-resistant materials.
• Concentrated solid solution alloys offer a promising pathway for designing advanced metallic alloys for extreme environments.
• This approach provides a facile method for creating irradiation-tolerant materials for nuclear applications.