Photoelectrochemical study of hydrogen in oxide films of Zr based alloys for fuel cladding materials of light water reactors

摘要

PEC properties of oxide film of Zr-Nb alloy with or without hydrogen were studied, and the distribution of the impurity level induced by hydrogen charging was discussed. The band gap energy of all the samples was consistent with that of ZrO_2 film. Additional PEC response was observed at lower energy than the band gap energy. This sub-band gap energy for the oxide film of hydrided samples was narrower than that for the oxide film of the alloys. It was inferred that hydrogen included into the oxide film produced the new impurity level in addition to Nb or oxygen vacancy.