Stainless steel is one of our most versatile materials. Its hygienic qualities ensure the safety of medical instruments and implants, and its corrosion-resistant properties make it indispensable in industries from construction to food processing. The corrosion resistance arises from the alloy’s chromium content, as the chromium forms a passive film on the surface that can self-heal in the presence of oxygen, shielding the bulk of the material from corrosion. However, the stability of the passive film can be affected by hydrogen absorption, leading to microstructure embrittlement that lowers the stress required for cracks to occur and propagate in the metal. A challenge for the hydrogen energy industry is that high-performance metallic materials are highly susceptible to hydrogen embrittlement. One potential candidate for building a safe hydrogen economy infrastructure is super duplex stainless steel (SDSS).
In work recently published in Applied Surface Science, an international team of researchers used in situ surface-sensitive synchrotron X-ray measurements to investigate the early stages of hydrogen-induced degradation of SDSS occurring at the near surface. Their results show that SDSS’s exceptional resistance to hydrogen embrittlement can be explained by the stability of the passive oxide film, and that the semiconducting property of the passive film plays an important role in hydrogen embrittlement. The authors also conclude that profound in situ experimental characterisation and computational calculation are needed to reveal the complex processes behind material degradation.
High-Strength, Corrosion-Resistant Steel
Green hydrogen can be used as both a feedstock and energy carrier and has the potential to play a crucial role in the future fossil-free energy landscape. However, high-strength metallic materials are highly susceptible to hydrogen embrittlement (hydrogen-induced material degradation), posing a significant challenge for safe hydrogen storage and transport.
Prof Jinshan Pan, from the KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Sweden, said:
Hydrogen embrittlement is a very important issue for many applications. Different metal materials may have this embrittlement problem. It’s really a hundred-years-old challenge. In many cases, the metal surface has a passive film, like an oxide, that allows materials to be used in practice, because otherwise the metals themselves are active.
Read more on Diamond website