Monte-carlo simulations of interstitial diffusion and trapping—II. Amorphous metals

Hydrogen Embrittlement as a Conspicuous Material Challenge─Comprehensive Review and Future Directions

Hydrogen is considered a clean and efficient energy carrier crucial for shaping the net-zero future. Large-scale production, transportation, storage, and use of green hydrogen are expected to be undertaken in the coming decades. As the smallest element in the universe, however, hydrogen can adsorb on, diffuse into, and interact with many metallic materials, degrading their mechanical properties. This multifaceted phenomenon is generically categorized as hydrogen embrittlement (HE). HE is one of the most complex material problems that arises as an outcome of the intricate interplay across specific spatial and temporal scales between the mechanical driving force and the material resistance fingerprinted by the microstructures and subsequently weakened by the presence of hydrogen. Based on recent developments in the field as well as our collective understanding, this Review is devoted to treating HE as a whole and providing a constructive and systematic discussion on hydrogen entry, diffusion, trapping, hydrogen-microstructure interaction mechanisms, and consequences of HE in steels, nickel alloys, and aluminum alloys used for energy transport and storage. HE in emerging material systems, such as high entropy alloys and additively manufactured materials, is also discussed. Priority has been particularly given to these less understood aspects. Combining perspectives of materials chemistry, materials science, mechanics, and artificial intelligence, this Review aspires to present a comprehensive and impartial viewpoint on the existing knowledge and conclude with our forecasts of various paths forward meant to fuel the exploration of future research regarding hydrogen-induced material challenges.

Lattice discontinuities affecting the generation and annihilation of diffusible hydrogen and vice versa

Lattice discontinuities include lattice defects and surfaces both providing traps for hydrogen atoms. It will be discussed under which conditions discontinuities of a given distribution either release trapped hydrogen to become diffusible or capture diffusible H-atoms to become trapped. It will be shown that for any distribution, the self-diffusion coefficient of hydrogen is determined by the product of the H-diffusion in the perfect lattice times the fraction of hydrogen being diffusible. In this context, the quantities diffusible hydrogen, lattice hydrogen, thermodynamic activity of hydrogen and chemical potential of hydrogen are interchangeable in a general way. New discontinuities are generated during hydrogen embritllement (fracture surfaces, voids, dislocations) and dislocations move by kink pair formation. The production rate of these discontinuities depends on the chemical potential of hydrogen within the defactant concept or the generalized Gibbs adsorption isotherm. Thus, the chemical potential of hydrogen determines both the amount of trapping and the defect generation rate. For a crack propagating by dislocations generation, the chemical potential affects its velocity independent of the accompanying concentration enhancement in front of the crack tip or the related adsorption on the freshly generated crack surface.This article is part of the themed issue 'The challenges of hydrogen and metals'.