A study of ion plating parameters, coating structure, and corrosion protection for aluminum coatings on uranium

Abstract

Effects of oblique energetic bombardment on the morphology and microstructure of triode ion plated titanium films J.A study of ion-plating parameters (primarily deposition rate and substrate bias voltage), coating structure, and the corrosion protection provided by aluminum coatings on uranium is presented. Ion plating at low temperatures yields a variety of aluminum coating structures on uranium. For example, aluminum coatings produced at high deposition rates and low substrate bias voltages are columnar with voids between columns, as expected for high-rate vapor deposition at low temperatures. On the other hand, low deposition rate and high bias voltage produce a modified coating with a dense, noncolumnar structure. These results are not in agreement with other studies that have found no relationship between deposition rate and coating structure in ion plating. This discrepancy is probably due to the high deposition rates used in these studies. An accelerated, water vapor corrosion test indicates that the columnar aluminum coatings provide some corrosion protection despite their porous nature; however, the dense noncolumnar coatings provide significantly greater protection. These results indicate that ion-plated aluminum coatings produced at low deposition rates and high substrate bias voltages creates dense coating structures that are most effective in protecting uranium from corrosion.

Pulsed laser nitriding of uranium

“…Many technologies including physical vapor deposition and ion implantation were developed to improve its corrosion resistance [1][2][3][4]. Physical vapor deposition has the drawback of discontinuous interfaces between the coatings and substrate, which makes the coatings fall off.…”

A Review on the Electroless Deposition of Functional Materials in Ionic Liquids for Batteries and Catalysis

“…Al has also been used as a corrosion protection layer for uranium (Egert and Scott, 1987; Jiang et al, 2017). Recently, electroless deposition of Al from [EMIm]Cl/AlCl 3 on uranium was shown to be an effective method for coating uranium (Jiang et al, 2018).…”