Work

Preparation sequence controls oxygen partitioning between boron and lithium on tungsten: Letter

Year: 2026

Type: article

Abstract: Classical reactive molecular dynamics of boron- and lithium-conditioned tungsten surfaces show that the order in which boron and oxygen are introduced - not the boron inventory - controls surface chemistry. On a thin engineered tungsten oxide, boron captures 81% of oxygen and consumes the oxide; on an engineered ~2 nm mixed WO3/WO2 film, boron captures only 20% and leaves 52% of reaction-zone tungsten in WO3-like coordination; and in a co-deposited W-B substrate later exposed to oxygen, boron captures only 28% despite a tenfold larger inventory. Adding lithium leaves the oxide-first cases unchanged but transforms the co-deposited case, where lithium becomes the dominant oxygen captor (58%) and a lithium-borate-glass-like network form. We outline the expected, divergent responses of the boron-only and boron-plus-lithium materials to deuterium irradiation.

Source: Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research)

DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.21494701

Authors: Krstic, Predrag S., Sharkass, Meral, Dwivedi, Swarit, Sayed Ahmed, Dalia, YUN KYUNG, Shin, van Duin, Adri

Institutions: Pennsylvania State University, Monash University

Language: English

Topic: Fusion materials and technologies

Subfield: Materials Chemistry

Field: Materials Science

Domain: Physical Sciences

Open Access status: green

Funder: U.S. Department of Energy

Award: MODELING CHEMICALLY-REACTIVE PMI PROPERTIES OF COMPLEX W ALLOYS AS PLASMA-FACING MATERIALS