In situ studies on radiation response of supersaturated NbCu alloy.
5 affiliations
- 1School of Materials Engineering, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, 47907, USA. [email protected].
- 2School of Materials Engineering, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, 47907, USA.
- 3Nuclear Engineering Division, Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne, IL, 60439, USA.
- 4School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, 47907, USA.
- 5School of Materials Engineering, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, 47907, USA. [email protected].
Abstract
Immiscible metallic systems provide opportunities for controlling radiation-induced defect accumulation through defect-interface and defect-solute interactions; however, radiation-induced defect evolution in metastable supersaturated solid solutions remains comparatively less well understood. In this work, we have investigated the radiation response of a sputtered supersaturated Nb-15 at.% Cu alloy containing pre-existing grain boundary (GB) voids and Cu-rich precipitates using in situ 1 MeV Kr ion irradiation at room temperature up to ~2.30 dpa. In situ TEM observations reveal progressive shrinkage and elimination of pre-existing GB voids with increasing radiation dose, together with migration and absorption of irradiation-induced defect clusters at GBs. Post-irradiation HRSTEM and EDS analyses reveal the formation of nanovoids within the Nb-rich matrix accompanied by Cu segregation. Irradiation also induces compositional and structural evolution of the Cu-rich GB precipitates, which become more diffuse and discontinuous with reduced Cu concentration and predominantly BCC structures. These observations reveal the coupled nature of defect migration, void evolution, solute redistribution, and local phase evolution during irradiation of a nonequilibrium immiscible alloy. The findings improve the understanding of radiation-damage evolution in metastable immiscible systems and highlight the roles of GB defect sinks and solute-defect interactions in controlling radiation-induced microstructural evolution.
Related
- In situ fabricated Zn-ZnO@HA coating on magnesium alloy with robust adhesion, superior anticorrosion, and osteogenic activity
- Boosting solid oxide H 2 O and CO 2 co-electrolysis on Sr 2− x Fe 1.5− y Mo 0.5 Ni y O 6± δ by in situ exsolution of FeNi alloy nanoparticles
- Temperature-dependent deformation behavior of the additively manufactured Al0.75CrFeNi2.1 alloy using in-situ high energy X-ray diffraction
- Simulation of Shielding Performance of Ta-10W Alloy and Lead in CT Lateral Scattered Radiation Fields
- Balancing Plasmonic Response and CO2 Activation in Au–Cu/TiO2 Hybrid Photocatalysts via Alloy Composition Control
BibTeX
@article{paul2026situ,
title = {{In situ studies on radiation response of supersaturated NbCu alloy.}},
author = {Debargha Paul and Adil Wazeer and Zhongxia Shang and Yinghang Liu and Chang Xia and Emiliano Flores and Vaibhav Singh and Yang Chen and Chang Liu and Wei-Ying Chen and Haiyan Wang and Xinghang Zhang},
journal = {Discover nano},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.1186/s11671-026-04983-y},
url = {https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42905323},
note = {CC BY-NC-ND},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - In situ studies on radiation response of supersaturated NbCu alloy.
AU - Debargha Paul
AU - Adil Wazeer
AU - Zhongxia Shang
AU - Yinghang Liu
AU - Chang Xia
AU - Emiliano Flores
AU - Vaibhav Singh
AU - Yang Chen
AU - Chang Liu
AU - Wei-Ying Chen
AU - Haiyan Wang
AU - Xinghang Zhang
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/21
JO - Discover nano
DO - 10.1186/s11671-026-04983-y
UR - https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42905323
AB - Immiscible metallic systems provide opportunities for controlling radiation-induced defect accumulation through defect-interface and defect-solute interactions; however, radiation-induced defect evolution in metastable supersaturated solid solutions remains comparatively less well understood. In this work, we have investigated the radiation response of a sputtered supersaturated Nb-15 at.% Cu alloy containing pre-existing grain boundary (GB) voids and Cu-rich precipitates using in situ 1 MeV Kr ion irradiation at room temperature up to ~2.30 dpa. In situ TEM observations reveal progressive shrinkage and elimination of pre-existing GB voids with increasing radiation dose, together with migration and absorption of irradiation-induced defect clusters at GBs. Post-irradiation HRSTEM and EDS analyses reveal the formation of nanovoids within the Nb-rich matrix accompanied by Cu segregation. Irradiation also induces compositional and structural evolution of the Cu-rich GB precipitates, which become more diffuse and discontinuous with reduced Cu concentration and predominantly BCC structures. These observations reveal the coupled nature of defect migration, void evolution, solute redistribution, and local phase evolution during irradiation of a nonequilibrium immiscible alloy. The findings improve the understanding of radiation-damage evolution in metastable immiscible systems and highlight the roles of GB defect sinks and solute-defect interactions in controlling radiation-induced microstructural evolution.
SN - 2731-9229
ER -