Advanced materials could provide more durable metals for fusion power reactors

A fusion power plant could generate carbon-free energy at a scale needed to address climate change.

Researchers worldwide are making progress toward meeting that goal.

Key to a fusion reactor is a superheated plasma that's reacting inside a vacuum vessel.

The problem is finding a material for the vacuum vessel that remains strong enough to keep the reacting plasma and coolant apart.

Researchers found a metric that is easy to compute and reliable indicator of helium embedding energy.

The metric is the atomic-scale free volume, the size of the internal vacant space available for helium atoms to settle.

The researchers then implanted helium ions into the sample at a temperature similar to that in a fusion reactor and watched as bubbles of helium formed.

Having confirmed their approach, the researchers searched for helium-absorbing compounds that would work well with iron.

DOI: 10.1016 /j.actamat.2024.119654 This story is republished courtesy of MIT News (web.mit.edu/newsoffice/), a popular site that covers news about MIT research, innovation and teaching. Provided by Massachusetts Institute of TechnologyThis story was originally published on Phys.org . Subscribe to our newsletter for the latest sci-tech news updates..