Hydrogen absorption of incoherent TiC particles in iron from environment at high temperatures

The effect of atmosphere in heat treatment on the hydrogen trapping of incoherent TiC particles in iron has been studied in order to clarify the origin of hydrogen trapped by incoherent TiC particles. The hydrogen trapped by incoherent TiC particles in iron after austenitizing and tempering treatments in air, in a nonprotective argon atmosphere, and in an ultrahigh vacuum (UHV) was identified and quantitatively measured by thermal-desorption spectrometry (TDS). Results showed that incoherent TiC particles in iron do not trap hydrogen at ambient temperature by a cathodic-charging method. It was justified that incoherent TiC particles trap hydrogen during high-temperature heat treatment in nonprotective atmospheres. The amount of hydrogen trapped by incoherent TiC particles decreases with increasing heat-treatment temperature, which is well explained by the equilibrium concentration of hydrogen trapped by incoherent TiC particles in iron under an atmosphere containing water vapor. The hydrogen is supplied through water-vapor oxidation of iron at high temperatures. According to this model, a binding energy between hydrogen and incoherent TiC of 53 kJ/mol was obtained. The energy barrier for hydrogen to jump into incoherent TiC was determined to range from 21 to 35 kJ/mol, which is too high for hydrogen to be trapped by incoherent TiC at low temperatures.