The effect of Li0 on the corrosion of stainless steel alloy 316L exposed to molten LiCl-Li2O-Li

A knowledge gap exists in our understanding of corrosion of alloys in molten LiCl-Li2O-Li. Coupons of stainless steel alloy 316L were exposed to LiCl-Li2O solutions containing up to 1 wt%Li. A protective surface films of LiCrO2 forms in molten solutions containing up to 0.4 wt%Li. The surfaces of samples exposed to melts containing greater than 0.4 wt% Li were observed to be depleted of Cr and mostly devoid of oxides. Results indicate that material interactions with the LiCl-Li2O-Li system are governed by electrochemical oxidation phenomena when the Li concentration is low, while liquid metal effects dominate when the Li concentration is high.