Corrosion tests of multi-layer ceramic coatings in liquid lithium-lead

Abstract

Tritium permeation through structural materials in fusion reactor blanket systems is a critical issue from the viewpoints of fuel loss and radiological safety. Ceramic coatings have been investigated to prevent tritium permeation; however, corrosion of the coatings by blanket materials, especially corrosive liquid tritium breeders such as lithium-lead is serious. In our previous study, the improvement of permeation reduction performance using an erbium oxide (Er2O3)-zirconium oxide (ZrO2) two-layer coating was confirmed, but it did not show substantial corrosion resistance. In this study, various multi-layer coatings were fabricated by metal organic decomposition and then exposed to lithium-lead under static conditions to investigate precise corrosion behaviors of multi-layer coatings. After lithium-lead exposure for 1000 h at 600 °C, the outermost Er2O3 layer almost disappeared, while the outermost ZrO2 layer remained, indicating that ZrO2 is more suitable as the outermost layer. However, many cracks and peelings were observed on the outermost ZrO2 layer in the cases of the samples having four coating interfaces. The optimization of layer combination and the control of adhesion between the coatings are required to reduce the degradation of multi-layer coatings.