Non-equilibrium grain boundary cosegregation of Mo and P

The segregation of P at grain boundaries is believed to be an important cause of temper embrittlement in steels. As an alloy element, Mo may reduce the embrittlement. However, the concentration measured by Auger electron spectroscopy at the grain boundary in 2.25Cr1MoV and 12Cr1MoV showed that the concentration of P increased with that of Mo, which indicates that Mo and P cosegregated to the grain boundary in Cr-Mo steels.