A Surface Modification of Hastelloy X by Sic Coating and Ion Beam Mixing for Application in Nuclear Hydrogen Production

The effects of ion beam mixing of a SiC film coated on super alloys (hastelloy X substrates) were studied, aiming at developing highly sustainable materials at above $900^{\circ}C$ in decomposed sulfuric acid gas (SO2/SO3/H2O) channels of a process heat exchanger. The bonding between two dissimilar materials is often problematic, particularly in coating metals with a ceramics protective layer. A strong bonding between SiC and hastelloy X was achieved by mixing the atoms at the interface by an ion-beam: The film was not peeled-off at ${\geq}900^{\circ}C$, confirming excellent adhesion, although the thermal expansion coefficient of hastelloy X is about three times higher than that of SiC. Instead, the SiC film was cracked along the grain boundary of the substrate at above $700^{\circ}C$. At ${\geq}900^{\circ}C$, the film was crystallized forming islands on the substrate so that a considerable part of the substrate surface could be exposed to the corrosive environment. To cover the exposed areas and cracks multiple coating/IBM processes have been developed. An immersion corrosion test in 80% sulfuric acid at $300^{\circ}C$ for 100 h showed that the weight retain rate was gradually increased when increasing the processing time.