A combined experimental and first-principle study on the oxidation mechanism of super austenitic stainless steel S32654 at 900 °C for a short time period ( Super austenitic stainless steels S32654 are primarily used in applications where increased pitting and crevice corrosion resistances are required, such as marine and offshore applications, seawater handling systems, nuclear power plant condenser tubes, waste incineration systems, and chemical-processing equipment [1][2][3] . Their extensive use is because of their superior corrosion resistance, enhanced mechanical property, formability, and weldability 4, 5 . However, the high Mo and Cr concentrates in S32654 steels may promote the segregation of the elements and formation of precipitated phases such as σ, χ, and Laves phase 3, 6-8 . Recently, many reported investigations on S32654 mainly focused on the hot deformation behaviour, precipitation behaviour, and corrosion resistance [9][10][11] .In recent years, many studies have examined the high-temperature oxidation mechanism of the lower-Mo-content stainless steels [12][13][14][15][16] . Yun et al. 13 examined the effect of Mo on the oxidation resistance of Fe-22Cr-0.5Mn ferritic stainless steel at 800 °C and confirmed that the lower Mo addition (<4 wt.%) effectively enhanced the oxidation stability at the initial oxidation stage up to 300 h. Buscail et al. 14 demonstrated that Mo could restrain the outward diffusion of Fe and decrease the growth rate of the oxide layer, which enhanced the oxidation stability of the AISI 316 L stainless steel at 900 °C. Mo contents below 3 wt.% in the ferritic stainless steel could reduce the absorption of O 2 , prevent the outward diffusion of the metal cations and inward diffusion of anions, and enhance the oxidation resistance 16 . Furthermore, alloys with high Mo contents sustain the heavy oxidation at high temperatures because of the formation of volatile MoO 3 species [17][18][19][20] investigated the effect of Mo on the oxidation behaviour of AISI 304 and discovered that Mo could accelerate the oxidation rate because the evaporation of volatile MoO 3 damaged the Cr 2 O 3 layer. However, for high-Mo-content austenitic stainless steels such as S32654 steels, the effect of Mo on the high-temperature oxidation behaviour is inadequate. Therefore, the investigation on the high-temperature oxidation behaviour of S32654 steels is useful.Moreover, our previous work 21 mainly investigated the oxidation behaviour of S32654 steels at 900 °C, 1000 °C, and 1200 °C in air. At 900 °C, the samples exhibit excellent oxidation resistance because the MnMoO 4 layer and