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  Hydrogen trapping and permeation in metallic and ceramic coatings for fusion powerplant applications


   Department of Materials

   Applications accepted all year round  Funded PhD Project (UK Students Only)

About the Project

Future fusion powerplants must maintain tritium inventory to ensure safe and sustainable plant operations. Structural materials in the breeder blanket and tritium extraction systems will be exposed to tritium and lithium. This means that with the materials themselves must be able to withstand Li corrosion and how low tritium retention, or alternatively coatings can be used to inhibit tritium permeation and enhance the corrosion resistance of the structural materials.

Ceramic coatings, such as erbium oxide and yttrium oxide, have acceptable lithium compatibility and high permeation reduction factors, making them good candidates for tritium permeation barrier applications. They can be used in conjunction with a corrosion resistant topcoat, such as tungsten, to form a multilayer coating system that resists tritium permeation and Li corrosion.

There is currently limited information on the behaviour of tritium in fusion-relevant ceramics. A combined experimental and modelling approach is needed to identify trap types for hydrogen-isotopes in as-received ceramic systems, along with their relative strengths and stability. Building upon this, studies on the interaction with an understanding of the role of the substrate-coating interface in hydrogen trapping and permeation. While trapping in metallic systems is better understood than for ceramic systems, hydrogen isotope inventory measurements are essential as an early screening tool for new alloys and metallic coatings, and will facilitate the development of improved material systems for enhanced properties in the future.

The prospective student will conduct experimental investigations of the trapping and permeation behaviour of various substrate-coating systems, using materials characterisation techniques to link the microstructure to the hydrogen isotope trapping and permeation behaviour observed. This characterisation will include the use of Thermal Desorption Spectroscopy (TDS) and ion beam analysis and additional microstructural characterisation techniques. It is also anticipated that the successful candidate will spend at least 6 months at IPP Garching in Germany, conducting collaborative experiments under the guidance of Dr Thomas Schwarz-Selinger and gaining experience of working in a large laboratory. The incumbent will also collaborate with the first-principles modelling teams at UoM and UKAEA to aid in the interpretation of the experimental findings.

UKAEA will supply the uncoated and coated steels and vanadium alloys. A subset of promising oxide coated samples would also have a tungsten topcoat applied to form a multilayer coating system, such as would be required for use in the breeder blanket. The student would expose samples to deuterium via low energy plasma using the DELPHI-II facility at UoM and the PLaQ facility at IPP Garching. Both as received and ion irradiated materials would be exposed, with ion irradiations being conducted using accelerators based at UoMs DCF using relevant ions and energies. Subsequent testing would make use of IPP Garching’s TDS and ion beam analysis (Nuclear Reaction Analysis (NRA), Rutherford Back Scattering (RBS), and UoMs world-class characterization facilities. The experimental data collected (deuterium inventories, trap energies, deuterium depth profiles) will inform and validate hydrogen isotope trapping and permeation modelling, enabling prediction of tritium inventory over time. Once a downselection of promising coated systems has been made, this subset of samples will undergo permeation testing at UoM gas-driven permeation system (GDPS) and concurrently exposed to tritium at UKAEA, with subsequent TDS and modelling enabling study of isotope effects and prediction of tritium inventory over time.

Eligibility

Applicants should have or expect to achieve at least a 2.1 honours degree in materials science, physics, or related physical sciences discipline.

Before you apply

We strongly recommend that you contact the supervisor(s) for this project before you apply.

How to apply

Apply online through our website: https://uom.link/pgr-apply-fap

When applying, you’ll need to specify the full name of this project, the name of your supervisor, if you already having funding or if you wish to be considered for available funding through the university, details of your previous study, and names and contact details of two referees.

Your application will not be processed without all of the required documents submitted at the time of application, and we cannot accept responsibility for late or missed deadlines. Incomplete applications will not be considered.

After you have applied you will be asked to upload the following supporting documents:

  • Final Transcript and certificates of all awarded university level qualifications
  • Interim Transcript of any university level qualifications in progress
  • CV
  • Contact details for two referees (please make sure that the contact email you provide is an official university/work email address as we may need to verify the reference)
  • English Language certificate (if applicable)

If you have any questions about making an application, please contact our admissions team by emailing .

EDI

Equality, diversity and inclusion is fundamental to the success of The University of Manchester, and is at the heart of all of our activities. We know that diversity strengthens our research community, leading to enhanced research creativity, productivity and quality, and societal and economic impact.

We actively encourage applicants from diverse career paths and backgrounds and from all sections of the community, regardless of age, disability, ethnicity, gender, gender expression, sexual orientation and transgender status.

We also support applications from those returning from a career break or other roles. We consider offering flexible study arrangements (including part-time: 50%, 60% or 80%, depending on the project/funder).

Engineering (12) Materials Science (24)

Funding Notes

Duration of project/funding: 3.5 years
Funding source: Funded project (UK only)
Funding notes:Funding is for UK students only. 50% funding is committed from UKAEA, the remaining 50% will be sought from the Fusion Power CDT.

Register your interest for this project


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