Deuterium permeation of amorphous alumina coating on 316L prepared by MOCVD

The deuterium permeation behavior of the alumina coating on 316L stainless steel prepared by metal organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) was investigated. The alumina coating was also characterized by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscope (SEM). It was found that the as-prepared coating consisted of amorphous alumina. This alumina coating had a dense, crack-free and homogeneous morphology. Although the alumina coating was amorphous, effective suppression of deuterium permeation was demonstrated. The deuterium permeability of the alumina coating was 51-60 times less than that of the 316L stainless steel and 153-335 times less than that of the referred low activation martensitic steels at 860-960 K. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.