Extreme Expansion and Reversible Hydrogen Solubility in h.c.p. Titanium Stabilized by Colossal Interstitial Alloying

Titanium and its alloys could be called the “streetwalker” among commercially applied metals, because its poor nobility allows it to “pick-up” anything. Titanium is one of the metals that forms very stable borides, carbides, nitrides, oxides, and even hydrides. The solubility of nitrogen and oxygen in the hexagonal crystal structure of (metallic) titanium is very high; on the other end limited quantities of boron, carbon, and hydrogen can be dissolved. In the present contribution, we report on a significant increase in the solid solution limit of hydrogen in hexagonal close-packed (h.c.p.) titanium, where the h.c.p. crystal lattice is stabilized by deliberate interstitial alloying with high quantities of nitrogen or oxygen atoms. The presence of nitrogen/oxygen prevents the hydrogen-induced transformation of the h.c.p. titanium lattice to a face-centered cubic (f.c.c.) titanium lattice that occurs if no oxygen or nitrogen is present. The hydrogen content that can be accommodated at room temperature in h.c.p. titanium is as high as an unprecedented 50 at. pct from about 0 at. pct and causes an anisotropic expansion of the hexagonal lattice. This finding showcases that there could be an unexploited potential for combining large quantities of interstitials in titanium-based lattices.