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Abstract: The knowledge of the aging process involved in the primary water of pressurized water reactor entails investigating a mixed growth mechanism in the corrosion of nickel-base alloys. A mixed growth induces an anionic inner oxide and a cationic diffusion parallel to a dissolution–precipitation process forms the outer zone. The in situ monitoring of the oxidation kinetics requires the modeling of the oxide layer stratification with the full knowledge of the optical constants related to each component. Here, we report the dielectric constants of the alloys 600 and 690 measured by spectroscopic ellipsometry and fitted to a Drude–Lorentz model. A robust optical stratification model was determined using focused ion beam cross-section of thin foils examined by transmission electron microscopy. Dielectric constants of the inner oxide layer depleted in chromium were assimilated to those of the nickel thin film. The optical constants of both the spinels and extern layer were determined. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: A key element for analyzing the crack initiation in strained polycrystalline alloys is the local quantification of the surface strain distribution according to the grain texture. Using electron backscattered diffraction, the local microstructure was determined to both localize a triple junction and deduce the local Schmid factors. Kernel average misorientation (KAM) was also used to map the areas of defect concentration. The maximum principal strain and the in-plane shear strain were quantified using the biaxial nanogauge. Distortions of the array of nanodots used as spot markers were analyzed near the triple junction. The crystallographic orientation and the surface strain were then investigated both statistically for each grain and locally at the grain boundaries. The superimposition of microstructure and strain maps allows the high strain gradient (reaching 3-fold the applied strain) to be localized at preferential grain boundaries near the triple junction. The Schmid factors and the KAM were compared to the maximum principal strain and the in-plane shear strain respectively. The polycrystalline deformation was attributable first to the rotation of some grains, followed by the elongation of all grains along their preferential activated slip systems. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Bioluminescence imaging (BLI) is emerging as a powerful tool for real-time monitoring of infections in living animals. However, since luciferases are oxygenases, it has been suggested that the requirement for oxygen may limit the use of BLI in anaerobic environments, such as the lumen of the gut. Strains of Escherichia coli harboring the genes for either the bacterial luciferase from Photorhabdus luminescens or the PpyRE-TS and PpyGR-TS firefly luciferase mutants ofPhotinuspyralis (red and green thermostable P. pyralis luciferase mutants, respectively) have been engineered and used to monitor intestinal colonization in the streptomycin-treated mouse model. There was excellent correlation between the bioluminescence signal measured in the feces (R² = 0.98) or transcutaneously in the abdominal region of whole animals (R² = 0.99) and the CFU counts in the feces of bacteria harboring the luxABCDE operon. Stability in vivo of the bioluminescence signal was achieved by constructing plasmid PAT881(pGB2ΩPamiluxABCDE), which allowed long-term monitoring of intestinal colonization without the need for antibiotic selection for plasmid maintenance. Levels of intestinal colonization by various strains of E. coli could be compared directly by simple recording of the bioluminescence signal in living animals. The difference in spectra of light emission of the PpyRE-TS and PpyGR-TS firefly luciferase mutants and dual bioluminescence detection allowed direct in vitro and in vivo quantification of two bacterial populations by measurement of red and green emitted signals and thus monitoring of the two populations simultaneously. This system offers a simple and direct method to study in vitro and in vivo competition between mutants and the parental strain. BLI is a useful tool to study intestinal colonization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

α-Galactosidases from thermophilic organisms have gained interest owing to their applications in the sugar industry. The α-galactosidases AgaA, AgaB and AgaA A355E mutant from Geobacillus stearothermophilus have been overexpressed in Escherichia coli. Crystals of AgaB and AgaA A355E have been obtained by the vapour-diffusion method and synchrotron data have been collected to 2.0 and 2.8 Å resolution, respectively. Crystals of AgaB belong to space group I222 or I212121, with unit-cell parameters a = 87.5, b = 113.3, c = 161.6 Å. Crystals of AgaA A355E belong to space group P3121 or P3221, with unit-cell parameters a = b = 150.1, c = 233.2 Å. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Based on the skin effect, our recent developments using scanning microwave microscopy lead to propose a non-destructive method to detect located buried defect in metal samples like stainless steel. A 3D tomography is possible by taking advantage of microwave measurement, using a vector network analyzer in bandwidth frequencies, and the nanometer resolution positioning capabilities with atomic force microscopy. At each used frequency, an incident electromagnetic wave is sent to the sample and the reflected wave gives information on a specific depth layer in the material. With diagnostic tools of nanotechnologies (SEM, AFM, etc.), different stainless steel samples (from Areva NP) presenting local buried defects are studied. The materials used in this study are conventional stainless steels like a 304 stainless steel which is the most versatile and widely used stainless steel. The results of the tomography applied on these samples are in accordance with the skin effect equation. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: In the present study alloy 600 was tested in simulated pressurised water reactor (PWR) primary water, at 360°C, under an hydrogen partial pressure of 30kPa. These testing conditions correspond to the maximum sensitivity of alloy 600 to crack initiation. The resulting oxidised structures (corrosion scale and underlying metal) were characterised. A chromium rich oxide layer was revealed, the underlying metal being chromium depleted. In addition, analysis of the chemical composition of the metal close to the oxide scale had allowed to detect oxygen under the oxide scale and particularly in a triple grain boundary. Implication of such a finding on the crack initiation of alloy 600 is discussed. Significant diminution of the crack initiation time was observed for sample oxidised before stress corrosion tests. In view of these results, a mechanism for stress corrosion crack initiation of alloy 600 in PWR primary water was proposed. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The early stages of passivation in high temperature water of a nickel–chromium–iron alloy (Alloy 600) have been investigated by X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS) and Scanning Tunneling Microscopy (STM). The samples (polycrystal Ni-16Cr-9Fe (wt. %) and single crystal Ni-17Cr-7Fe (1 1 1)) have been exposed for short time periods (0.4–8.2 min) to high temperature (325 °C) and high pressure water, under controlled hydrogen pressure, in a microautoclave designed to transfer the samples from and to the XPS spectrometer without air exposure.In the early stages of oxidation of the alloy (0.4–4 min), an ultra-thin oxide layer (about 1 nm) is formed, which consists of chromium oxide (Cr2O3), according to the Cr 2p3/2 core level spectrum. An outer layer of Cr(OH)3 with a very small amount of Ni(OH)2 is also revealed by the Cr 2p3/2, Ni 2p3/2, and O 1s core level spectra. At this early stage, there is a temporary blocking of the growth of Cr2O3. For longer exposures (4–8 min), the Cr2O3 inner layer becomes thicker, at the expense of the outer Cr(OH)3 layer. This implies the transport of Cr and Ni through the oxide layer, and release of Ni2+ in the solution.The structure of the ultra-thin oxide film formed on a single crystal Ni-17Cr-7Fe(1 1 1) alloy was analysed by STM in the constant current mode; STM images reveal that, in the early stages of oxidation, the oxide is crystalline, and the observed structure is consistent with the hexagonal structure of the oxygen sub-lattice in the basal plane (0 0 0 1) of α-Cr2O3. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]