Corrosion behaviour and related mechanism of lithium vapour on aluminium nitride ceramic

Abstract The corrosion behaviour and possible failure mechanism of aluminium nitride ceramic in the vapour of lithium have been investigated using X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscope techniques. The results show that severe cracking along the grain boundary can be observed on the surfaces of aluminium nitride samples. Both lithium- (yttrium, aluminium) compounds and dissolution of aluminium nitride in the aggregated lithium along the grain boundary are believed to contribute to the corrosion failure. Under the same conditions, high purity aluminium nitride and necessary doping technology are expected to show better corrosion resistance.