Carbon Nanotubes Enhance the Radiation Resistance of bcc Iron Revealed by Atomistic Study

With extra space, a carbon nanotube (CNT) could serve as an absorber of point defects, including helium interstitials, and outgas the accumulate helium via “nano-chimneys”. The radiation resistance of CNT/Fe has still not been fully understood. Herein, we investigated the influence of CNTs on low-energy helium irradiation resistance in CNT/Fe composites by molecular dynamic simulations. CNTs reduced the small and medium He clusters in the Fe matrix. When the incident energy of the He atoms was 300 eV, the He atoms aggregated at the outer surface of CNTs. CNTs postponed the formation of He bubbles. When the irradiation energy was higher than 600 eV, He atoms could penetrate the walls of CNTs and form clusters inside the single-walled CNTs or the space in double-walled CNTs—the latter presented better performance. The reduction of Frenkel pair point defects suggested the enhancement of radiation resistance by the presentation of CNTs. Our results might be useful for the material design of advanced steels for radiation resistance.