Investigation of the dissolution and diffusion properties of interstitial oxygen at grain boundaries in body-centered-cubic iron by the first-principles study

Oxidation corrosion of steel is a universal problem in various industries and severely accelerated in nuclear reactors. First-principles calculations are performed to explore the dissolution and diffusion properties of interstitial oxygen in the body-centered-cubic iron grain boundaries Σ3〈110〉(111) and Σ5〈001〉(310). Solution energies indicate that interstitial oxygen atoms prefer to dissolve in body-centered-cubic iron, and energetically segregate to grain boundaries. Energy barriers show that oxygen atoms would segregate towards Σ3〈110〉(111) with a low energy barrier. However, they concentrate to the transition region of Σ5〈001〉(310) due to the high-energy barrier in the transition zone. When O atoms arrive at grain boundaries, they would stay there due to the larger solution energy and diffusion energy barrier in grain boundaries compared to that in the defect-free Fe bulk. These results indicate that O atoms would prefer to diffuse through the bulk, and oxidize grain boundaries. This study provides insight into oxidation phenomena in experiments and necessary parameters for future studies on the oxidation of steel under irradiation in nuclear reactors.