Nanocrystalline/amorphous ceramic composite coatings and functionally graded barriers for the protection of metals and alloys for use in liquid metal/alloy- and molten salt-cooled nuclear systems and their synthesis by pulsed laser deposition

Nuclear reactors which exploit for cooling liquid metals, and in particular heavy metals like lead, or molten salts, have to face the corrosion induced by these fluids. Protection of metal components by inert protective coatings is a strategy to overcome this problem. The pulsed laser deposition technique has been exploited, developing oxide coatings with a composite nanostructure (nanocrystalline seeds in an amorphous matrix) which have proven to have superior protective properties, being also resistant to permeation by gases, namely hydrogen.