U-6Nb is a uranium alloy containing 6 wt% niobium that possesses high corrosion resistance. The structure and composition of the passivating oxide layer formed on air-aged U-6Nb, which gives the material its corrosion resistant properties, was characterized using surface scattering techniques. Stable oxide layers formed on the surface of a set of U-6Nb alloy thin films under ambient conditions were investigated using neutron reflectometry (NR), x-ray reflectometry (XRR) and grazing incidence x-ray diffraction (GIXD). The passivating oxide was composed of approximately 27% U, 5% Nb, and 68% O, primarily consisting of a thin niobium oxide layer (5.5 ± 0.4 nm) separating a thicker UO₂ layer (27.1 ± 2.3 nm) from the underlying U-6Nb alloy. A critical density of enriched niobium oxide at the metal-oxide interface is hypothesized to limit oxygen diffusion and confer high corrosion resistance to the alloy.

U-6Nb是一种含有6 wt％铌的铀合金，具有很高的耐腐蚀性。使用表面散射技术表征了在空气老化的U-6Nb上形成的钝化氧化物层的结构和组成，该钝化氧化物层赋予了材料耐腐蚀性能。使用中子反射法（NR），X射线反射法（XRR）和掠入射X射线衍射（GIXD）研究了在环境条件下在一组U-6Nb合金薄膜表面上形成的稳定氧化物层。钝化氧化物由大约27％的U，5％的Nb和68％的O组成，主要由将较厚的UO ₂隔开的薄的氧化铌层（5.5±0.4 nm）组成底层U-6Nb合金的第二层（27.1±2.3 nm）。假设在金属-氧化物界面处的临界密度的氧化铌富集可限制氧扩散并赋予合金高耐腐蚀性。