Depth profile of chemical states of alloying elements in oxide layer of Zr-based alloys

To understand the basic oxidation kinetics of alloying elements which is considered to be strongly related with the corrosion and hydrogen pickup, the depth profiles of chemical states of alloying elements (Cr and Fe) were measured in the oxide layer of Zr-0.5Sn-1.0Cr-0.5Fe alloys. The depth profiles were obtained by combinations of a surface-sensitive XANES and an extremely low energy Ar ion sputtering. The XANES measurements revealed that the chemical states of alloying elements (Fe and Cr) varied with the depth in the oxide layer. Especially in the oxide layer formed in steam, a decrease of the fractions of oxidation states was significant rather than that in LiOH solution. In the oxide layer formed in steam, the oxidation rate of chromium was faster than iron by a factor of approximately 2.