Interstitial segregation has the potential to mitigate liquid metal embrittlement in iron.
File(s)
Published version
Author(s)
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
The embrittlement of metallic alloys by liquid metals leads to catastrophic material failure and severely impacts their structural integrity. The weakening of grain boundaries (GBs) by the ingress of liquid metal and preceding segregation in the solid are thought to promote early fracture. However, the potential of balancing between the segregation of cohesion-enhancing interstitial solutes and embrittling elements inducing GB de-cohesion is not understood. Here, the mechanisms of how boron segregation mitigates the detrimental effects of the prime embrittler, zinc, in a Σ5 [001] tilt GB in α-Fe (4 at.% Al) is unveiled. Zinc forms nanoscale segregation patterns inducing structurally and compositionally complex GB states. Ab initio simulations reveal that boron hinders zinc segregation and compensates for the zinc-induced loss in GB cohesion. The work sheds new light on how interstitial solutes intimately modify GBs, thereby opening pathways to use them as dopants for preventing disastrous material failure.
Date Issued
2023-07-13
Date Acceptance
2023-04-01
Citation
Advanced Materials, 2023, 35 (28), pp.1-11
ISSN
0935-9648
Publisher
Wiley
Start Page
1
End Page
11
Journal / Book Title
Advanced Materials
Volume
35
Issue
28
Copyright Statement
© 2023 The Authors. Advanced Materials published by Wiley-VCH GmbH
This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
License URL
Identifier
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/37030971
Subjects
grain boundary embrittlement
grain boundary segregation
liquid metals
nanoscale segregation patterns
zinc
Publication Status
Published
Coverage Spatial
Germany
Date Publish Online
2023-04-08