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Hydrogen depth profile in phosphorus-doped, oxygen-free copper after cathodic charging

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Abstract

Spent nuclear fuel, in Sweden, is planned to be put in 50-mm thick copper canisters and placed in 500-m depth in the bedrock. Depending on the conditions in the repository, an uptake of hydrogen in the copper may occur. It is therefore necessary to establish how a hydrogen uptake affects the microstructure in both the surface and the bulk. Phosphorus-doped, oxygen-free copper has been cathodically charged with hydrogen for up to 3 weeks. The amount of hydrogen as a function of the distance from the surface was measured by two methods: glow discharge optical emission spectrometry and melt extraction. The penetration of the increased hydrogen content was about 50 μm. Extensive bubble formation took place during the charging. A model has been formulated for the diffusion of hydrogen into the copper, the bubble formation and growth. The model can describe the total amount of hydrogen, the number of bubbles and their sizes as a function of the distance from the surface. Bubbles close to the surface caused the surface to bulge due to the high hydrogen pressure. From the shape of the deformed surface, the maximum hydrogen pressure could be estimated with the help of stress analysis. The maximum pressure was found to be about 400 MPa, which is almost an order of magnitude larger than previously recorded values for electroless deposited copper.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank the Swedish Nuclear Fuel and Waste Management Co (SKB) for providing financial support of this study. The authors would also like to express their gratitude to Mr J. Ahlström, Swerea KIMAB, for his work with the hydrogen charging, Mr Martin Lundholm and Mr Mats Randelius, Swerea KIMAB, for their help with hydrogen analyses and Dr. Henrik Andersson-Östling, Dr. Rui Wu, Swerea KIMAB and Christina Lilja, SKB, for fruitful discussions and critical comments on the manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Swerea KIMAB, Box 7047, 164 07, Kista, Sweden

    Åsa Martinsson & Rolf Sandström

  2. Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Royal Institute of Technology (KTH), Valhallavägen 79, 114 27, Stockholm, Sweden

    Rolf Sandström

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  1. Åsa Martinsson
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  2. Rolf Sandström
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Correspondence to Åsa Martinsson.

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Martinsson, Å., Sandström, R. Hydrogen depth profile in phosphorus-doped, oxygen-free copper after cathodic charging. J Mater Sci 47, 6768–6776 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10853-012-6592-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10853-012-6592-y

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