Mitigation of hydrogen permeation into steel by bacteria: a new research proposal

摘要

A new research proposal was introduced aiming at solving the fundamental theory for reducing the risk of hydrogen embrittlement(HE)in high-strength steels by utilizing hydrogen-consuming microorganisms.The superior performance of high-strength steel can meet the material strength requirements for remote deep-sea marine engineering development.Due to the heavy corrosive marine environment,steel structures must be protected by cathodic protection.However,high-strength steel is sensitive to stress corrosion cracking and HE,and cathodic protection can promote hydrogen permeation into steel.Hydrogen-consuming microorganisms are widespread in the natural environment and they utilize the energy of hydrogen oxidation to survive.If we could make use of the hydrogen-consuming function of microorganisms to consume the hydrogen generated during the cathodic protection process,then the potential for cathodic protection can be reasonably lowered,ideally protecting the steel and simultaneously reducing the possibility of HE.