Deuterium permeation through Eurofer and α-alumina coated Eurofer

Experiments on deuterium permeation through Eurofer have been performed in the temperature range 573–873 K at driving pressures 103–105 Pa. The permeability is found to be coincident with literature data on Eurofer measured at a fixed pressure and on F82H steel as well. A crystalline alumina coating of 1 μm in thickness produced on the surface by means of filtered arc discharge has led to a marked decrease of the permeation flux compared to bare material in the temperature range 973–1073 K. Surface effects appear to play a noticeable role in this decrease. In spite of this, a reduction factor of 103, perfect layer stability to thermal cycling, and a relatively low deposition temperature make α-alumina a very promising material for fusion applications.