Radiation damage in nanostructured materials

Xinghang Zhang, Khalid Hattar, Youxing Chen, Lin Shao, Jin Li, Cheng Sun, Kaiyuan Yu, Nan Li, Mitra L. Taheri, Haiyan Wang, Jian Wang, Michael Nastasi

Index: 10.1016/j.pmatsci.2018.03.002

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Abstract

There is a significant demand for the discovery of advanced materials that can survive high temperature and high doses of irradiations for the next generation nuclear reactors. Materials subjected to high dose irradiation by energetic particles often experience severe damage in the form of drastic increase of defect density, and significant degradation of their mechanical and physical properties. Extensive studies on radiation effects in materials in the past few decades show that, although nearly no materials are immune to radiation damage, the approaches of deliberate introduction of certain types of defects in materials before radiation are effective in mitigating radiation damage. Nanostructured materials with abundant internal defects have been extensively investigated for various applications. However, their impact on the alleviation of radiation damage remains less well understood. In this review article, we summarize and analyze the current understandings on the influence of various types of internal defect sinks on reduction of radiation damage in primarily nanostructured metallic materials, and partially on some nanoceramic materials (nitrides and oxides). We also point out open questions and future directions that may significantly improve our fundamental understanding on radiation damage in nanomaterials. The field of radiation damage in nanostructured materials is an exciting and rapidly evolving new arena, enriched with challenges and opportunities. The integration of extensive research effort, resources and expertise in the field materials science, nuclear science and technology, advanced microscopy, physics, mechanics, chemistry, and modeling and simulations may eventually lead to the design of advanced nanomaterials with unprecedented radiation tolerance.