Spontaneous shape transformation of helium bubble in metal tritide lattice: sphere to platelet

IF 3.3 2区工程技术 Q3 MATERIALS SCIENCE, MULTIDISCIPLINARY

Journal of Nuclear Materials Pub Date : 2026-03-01 Epub Date: 2026-01-18 DOI:10.1016/j.jnucmat.2026.156470

Muhong Li, Lin Qi, Chengqin Zou, Shuanglin Hu, Weidu Wang, Xiaochun Han, Xiaosong Zhou, Shuming Peng, Huahai Shen

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Abstract

Metal tritides have long been applied in tritium storage due to their high capacity and stability. The decay of tritium produces helium-3 (³He), which is mainly retained in metal tritides in the form of bubbles. Although the evolution of helium-3 bubbles in metal tritides has been of wide concern for a long time, the trend of their morphological transformation is still under debate. In this work, the shape evolution of helium bubbles in typical metal tritides (erbium, titanium, and zirconium) was tracked by transmission electron microscopy. The results show that in the tritides of erbium and titanium, helium-3 bubbles undergo a sphere-to-platelet transformation at the early stage (³He/M = 0.02∼0.06), while in zirconium tritide the helium-3 bubbles remain spherical up to ³He/M > 0.29. Compared with theoretical models, it is found that large and plate-like bubbles can maintain stability by widening rather than through a spherical transformation. Our results further suggest that the dominant energy contribution of helium-3 bubbles shifts from surface energy to strain energy with aging. Overall, the present work provides strong experimental support for investigating helium bubble behavior within metal tritide lattices, offering guidance for the rational design of tritium storage and fusion materials.

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金属三晶格中氦泡的自发形状转变：球形到血小板

金属三极管由于其高容量和稳定性，在氚储存中得到了广泛的应用。氚的衰变产生氦-3（³He），氦-3主要以气泡的形式保留在金属三联体中。虽然金属三联体中氦-3气泡的演化一直受到广泛关注，但其形态转变的趋势仍存在争议。在这项工作中，通过透射电子显微镜跟踪了典型金属三极管（铒、钛和锆）中氦气泡的形状演变。结果表明，在铒和钛的三晶中，氦-3气泡在早期（³He/M = 0.02 ~ 0.06）发生了球向血小板的转变，而在三晶锆中，氦-3气泡在³He/M >； 0.29时仍保持球形。与理论模型比较，发现大的板状气泡可以通过加宽而不是通过球面变换来保持稳定性。我们的研究结果进一步表明，随着老化，氦-3气泡的主要能量贡献从表面能转向应变能。综上所述，本研究为研究金属三晶格中的氦泡行为提供了强有力的实验支持，为氚储存和聚变材料的合理设计提供了指导。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Journal of Nuclear Materials 工程技术-材料科学：综合

CiteScore

5.70

自引率

25.80%

发文量

601

审稿时长

63 days

期刊介绍： The Journal of Nuclear Materials publishes high quality papers in materials research for nuclear applications, primarily fission reactors, fusion reactors, and similar environments including radiation areas of charged particle accelerators. Both original research and critical review papers covering experimental, theoretical, and computational aspects of either fundamental or applied nature are welcome. The breadth of the field is such that a wide range of processes and properties in the field of materials science and engineering is of interest to the readership, spanning atom-scale processes, microstructures, thermodynamics, mechanical properties, physical properties, and corrosion, for example. Topics covered by JNM Fission reactor materials, including fuels, cladding, core structures, pressure vessels, coolant interactions with materials, moderator and control components, fission product behavior. Materials aspects of the entire fuel cycle. Materials aspects of the actinides and their compounds. Performance of nuclear waste materials; materials aspects of the immobilization of wastes. Fusion reactor materials, including first walls, blankets, insulators and magnets. Neutron and charged particle radiation effects in materials, including defects, transmutations, microstructures, phase changes and macroscopic properties. Interaction of plasmas, ion beams, electron beams and electromagnetic radiation with materials relevant to nuclear systems.