Mechanism-Guided Design of High-Entropy Ceramic Architectures for Hydrogen and Fusion Energy Systems
About the Project
The transition toward net-zero energy technologies requires materials capable of operating under increasingly aggressive environments. Hydrogen-fuelled gas turbines demand advanced Environmental Barrier Coatings (EBCs) for SiC/SiC ceramic matrix composites, where resistance to steam corrosion, calcium–magnesium–aluminosilicate (CMAS) attack and thermal cycling is essential. Concurrently, future fusion reactors employing Dual-Coolant Lead-Lithium (DCLL) breeder blankets require electrically insulating Flow Channel Inserts (FCIs) that can withstand liquid Pb-Li corrosion, severe thermal gradients and intense neutron irradiation.
Rare-earth oxides have emerged as promising next-generation thermal and environmental barrier materials owing to their low thermal conductivity, excellent phase stability and CMAS resistance. More recently, high-entropy zirconates (HEZs) and high-entropy hafnates (HEHs) have demonstrated superior defect engineering capability, enhanced radiation tolerance and reduced thermal conductivity arising from severe lattice distortion. However, their application has been largely confined to turbine coatings, while their potential for fusion blanket ceramic architectures remains almost unexplored.
This project aims to bridge aerospace and fusion materials science by developing compositionally complex ceramic systems capable of serving both as EBC top-coat materials and as candidate ceramic architectures for fusion Flow Channel Inserts.
Aim
To develop high-entropy zirconate and hafnate ceramic architectures possessing superior thermo-chemical stability, corrosion resistance and irradiation tolerance for applications in hydrogen-fuelled turbine EBCs and fusion blanket FCIs.
Objectives
- Design compositionally complex zirconate and hafnate systems using CALPHAD and thermodynamic modelling.
- Synthesise high-entropy pyrochlore and defect-fluorite ceramics through solid-state sintering routes.
- Characterise phase stability, thermal conductivity, thermal expansion and mechanical properties.
- Evaluate degradation mechanisms under representative hydrogen turbine environments, including high-temperature steam and CMAS attack.
- Investigate corrosion behaviour in liquid Pb-Li and assess electrical insulation characteristics relevant to fusion FCIs.
- Study irradiation tolerance using ion irradiation as a surrogate for neutron damage.
- Develop hybrid SiC–high-entropy ceramic architectures for multifunctional coating and insert applications.
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