Hydrogen Protection Using CrN Coatings: Experimental and Theoretical Study

Preventing hydrogen damage is an important issue in materials design. To prevent such damage, CrN coating is investigated as a very promising candidate for hydrogen damage protection. In this study, the theoretical analysis of hydrogen adsorption on CrN surfaces was studied. It was found that most CrN surfaces are inert to hydrogen and do not adsorb it. This finding is suggested to explain the hydrogen protection caused by these coatings. To demonstrate these abilities of CrN coatings, we used the Pulsed-DC magnetron sputtering method to produce CrN layers on gadolinium substrates. The coated samples were exposed to hydrogen, characterized by SEM, XRD, and GD-OES, and show no hydrogen damage, were the uncoated ones exhibited a massive hydrogen attack.