Atomic-scale insights on hydrogen trapping and exclusion at incoherent interfaces of nanoprecipitates in martensitic steels

Binglu Zhang, Qisi Zhu, Chi Xu, Changtai Li, Yuan Ma, Zhaoxiang Ma, Sinuo Liu, Ruiwen Shao, Yuting Xu, Baolong Jiang, Lei Gao, Xiaolu Pang, Yang He (), Guang Chen () and Lijie Qiao ()
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Binglu Zhang: University of Science and Technology Beijing
Qisi Zhu: University of Science and Technology Beijing
Chi Xu: Nanjing University of Science and Technology
Changtai Li: University of Science and Technology Beijing
Yuan Ma: University of Science and Technology Beijing
Zhaoxiang Ma: Yantai University
Sinuo Liu: University of Science and Technology Beijing
Ruiwen Shao: Beijing Institute of Technology
Yuting Xu: South China University of Technology
Baolong Jiang: University of Science and Technology Beijing
Lei Gao: University of Science and Technology Beijing
Xiaolu Pang: University of Science and Technology Beijing
Yang He: University of Science and Technology Beijing
Guang Chen: Nanjing University of Science and Technology
Lijie Qiao: University of Science and Technology Beijing

Nature Communications, 2022, vol. 13, issue 1, 1-11

Abstract: Abstract Hydrogen is well known to embrittle high-strength steels and impair their corrosion resistance. One of the most attractive methods to mitigate hydrogen embrittlement employs nanoprecipitates, which are widely used for strengthening, to trap and diffuse hydrogen from enriching at vulnerable locations within the materials. However, the atomic origin of hydrogen-trapping remains elusive, especially in incoherent nanoprecipitates. Here, by combining in-situ scanning Kelvin probe force microscopy and aberration-corrected transmission electron microscopy, we unveil distinct scenarios of hydrogen-precipitate interaction in a high-strength low-alloyed martensitic steel. It is found that not all incoherent interfaces are trapping hydrogen; some may even exclude hydrogen. Atomic-scale structural and chemical features of the very interfaces suggest that carbon/sulfur vacancies on the precipitate surface and tensile strain fields in the nearby matrix likely determine the hydrogen-trapping characteristics of the interface. These findings provide fundamental insights that may lead to a better coupling of precipitation-strengthening strategy with hydrogen-insensitive designs.

Date: 2022
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-022-31665-x

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