Swamps of hydrogen in equiatomic FeCuCrMnMo alloys: First-principles calculations

Abstract High-entropy alloys (HEAs) merit promising applications in nuclear reactors. A FeCuCrMnMo HEA with low activation under neutron irradiation was studied, which was first focused on the search of an equilibrium state by a hybrid method combining the Metropolis Monte Carlo method and density functional theory (DFT). As a transmutation byproduct in fission reactions or fuel for fusion reactions, the evolution of hydrogen, in the HEA was then investigated through a systematic analysis of H solution and diffusion using DFT and molecular dynamics simulations. Rooted in the unique distortion of HEA lattices, i.e., the destroyed translational symmetry of the energy landscape, tetrahedral and octahedral interstitial positions have no significant difference in the priority of H residing. Diffusion of H, as a guest atom, also presents a sluggish effect. The dramatic increases and decreases in potential energy generate a great number of insurmountable barriers pervading the matrix and largely suppressing the mobility of H. However, this effect originates not only from the difference between the potential energies of interstitial positions as observed with host atoms, which increases the fluctuation of migration barriers and decreases the effective atomic jump frequency, but also from the destabilization of interstitial positions for H residing. This blocks the diffusion channels of H and further decreases the atomic jump probability in Einstein's equation. The present investigation provides fundamental insight into H behavior in HEAs and clues for the application of HEAs as materials of tritium permeation barriers or resistance to hydrogen irradiation.