Contribution of core-loss fine structures to the characterization of ion irradiation damages in the nanolaminated ceramic Ti3AlC2

Abstract

The effect of low energy ion irradiation in the nanolaminated Ti 3 AlC 2 is investigated by means of X-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy, electron energy loss and X-ray absorption spectroscopy. The chemical sensitivity and local order probing from core-loss edges provide new insight in the undertanding of structural modifications induced under irradiation. From the analysis of the C K energy loss near edge structure (ELNES) and Al K X-ray absorption near edge structure (XANES) by ab initio calculations, the influence of the layered structure of this compound on the irradiation damage is demonstrated, with preferentialy localized damage in aluminum planes of the structure. On the basis of comparisons between calculations and the experimental spectra, a strutural model is proposed for the irradiated state. This study emphasizes the utility of core-loss fine structure analysis to further understanding of ion irradiation induced damage in complex crystalline materials.

Experimental synthesis and density functional theory investigation of radiation tolerance of Zr3(Al1‐xSix)C2MAX phases

“…Defect reactions can provide important information on the radiation tolerance of MAX phases. However, they should be verified by experiments and theoretical calculations of migration energy barriers and cascade processes . The present results are consistent with previous DFT studies for Ti 3 AlC 2 and Ti 3 SiC 2 MAX phases …”

Irradiation-induced structural transitions in Ti 2 AlC

“…The space group of this structure (named c-Ti 2 AlC phase) is P63mc with the layer sequence of ABCACB, which is similar to 6H-SiC. In previous study, Bugnet et al [7] investigated the process of phase transition in Ti 3 AlC 2 and found an intermediate c-Ti 3 AlC 2 phase. Based on the assumption that the antisite defects are uniformly distributed, it is deduced that both c-Ti 2 AlC phase and c-Ti 3 AlC 2 phase are transformed in similar ways where the antisite defects and the rearrangement of the C atoms as well as the movement of cation atoms along the basal plane occurred.…”

“…M n + 1 AX n phases (n = 2), especially Ti 3 AlC 2 and Ti 3 SiC 2 , as two typical MAX phases, have been frequently used to investigate the performance under ion irradiation [7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16]. Similar to Ti 3 AC 2 (A = Al/Si), Ti 2 AlC phase has an isomorphous hexagonal-closepacked structure whose space group is P6 3 /mmc (No.…”

He+ irradiation induced cracking and exfoliating on the surface of Ti3AlC2

“…Some of such phases have also been reported to have good irradiation damage tolerance [7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16], which leads them to be candidate materials for future fission and fusion reactors with much higher burn-up, requiring the materials to survive up to 200 dpa [17,18]. Ti 3 AlC 2 [10,12,13,19,20] and Ti 3 SiC 2 [7,14,21,22] are two major MAX phases.…”