An x-ray absorption spectroscopy study of Mo oxidation in Pb at elevated temperatures

The corrosion of fuel cladding and structural materials by lead and lead-bismuth eutectic in the liquid state at elevated temperatures is an issue that must be considered when designing advanced nuclear systems and high-power spallation neutron targets. In this work, lead corrosion studies of molybdenum were performed to investigate the interaction layer as a function of temperature by X-ray absorption spectroscopy. In situ X-ray absorption measurements on a Mo substrate with a 3-6 {micro}m layer of Pb deposited by thermal evaporation were performed at temperatures up to 900 C and at a 15{sup o} angle to the incident X-rays. The changes in the local atomic structure of the corrosion layer are visible in the difference extended X-ray absorption fine structure and the linear combination fitting of the X-ray absorption near-edge structure to as-deposited molybdenum sample and molybdenum oxide (MoO{sub 2} and MoO{sub 3}) standards. The data are consistent with the appearance of MoO{sub 3} in an intermediate temperature range (650-800 C) and the more stable MoO{sub 2} phase dominating at high and low temperatures.