We report for the first time the observation of irradiation-induced amorphization of the zirconium suboxide formed during aqueous corrosion of Zr-0.5Nb alloys. High-resolution transmission electron microscopy results reveal amorphization of the hexagonal-ZrO suboxide under heavy ion irradiation at cryogenic temperatures. This irradiation-induced amorphization behaviour is discussed in relation to the arrangement of oxygen interstitials and the formation of stable superlattices. The sensitivity of the suboxide to irradiation damage can lead to phase changes and the accumulation of defects near the oxide/metal interface, which needs to be taken into account in the development of mechanistic models addressing radiation-assisted acceleration of corrosion rates in zirconium alloys.

我们首次报告了在Zr-0.5Nb合金的水腐蚀过程中辐射诱导的氧化亚锆锆非晶化的观察结果。高分辨率透射电子显微镜结果显示，在低温下重离子辐照下，六方形ZrO低氧化物的非晶化。关于氧间隙的排列和稳定超晶格的形成，讨论了这种辐射诱导的非晶化行为。次氧化物对辐照损伤的敏感性会导致相变和氧化物/金属界面附近缺陷的积累，在开发解决辐射辅助加速锆合金腐蚀速率的机理模型时需要考虑到这一点。