Title: Influence of temperature on the metallic surface cleanliness in ICF facility: a combined experimental and molecular simulation study

Authors: Yilan Jiang; Longfei Niu; Guorui Zhou; Xinxiang Miao; Haibin Lv; Wen Qian

Addresses: China Academy of Engineering Physics, Mianyang, 621900, China ' China Academy of Engineering Physics, Mianyang, 621900, China ' China Academy of Engineering Physics, Mianyang, 621900, China ' China Academy of Engineering Physics, Mianyang, 621900, China ' China Academy of Engineering Physics, Mianyang, 621900, China ' China Academy of Engineering Physics, Mianyang, 621900, China

Abstract: Wettability of metal surfaces is used to characterise the surface cleanliness of components in the inertial confinement fusion (ICF) facility. In this work, molecular simulations combined with wettability experimentation were performed. The temperature effects of water-metallic interface energies and their influence on the measurements for surface cleanliness were investigated. The simulation results indicated van der Waals forces promoted the attraction between water molecules and metal surfaces. The interaction energies raised with elevated temperatures from 291 K to 303 K. Besides, the wettability experiments showed both the Al and Fe components were hydrophilic, and the contact angle was reduced with elevated temperatures. The correlationship between the energy change and the contact angle at varying temperatures can be found. This research provides a new understanding of the characterisation of metal surface cleanliness.

Keywords: surface cleanliness; solid-liquid interface; contact angle test; molecular dynamics.

DOI: 10.1504/IJSURFSE.2023.128882

International Journal of Surface Science and Engineering, 2023 Vol.17 No.1, pp.30 - 43

Received: 04 Jul 2022
Accepted: 06 Sep 2022
Published online: 08 Feb 2023 *