Following on preliminary results on H in Ti published in Acta Materialia, we used the uncontrolled ingress of H during specimen preparation to load samples of Ti-Mo alloys with different microstructures (Scripta Materialia Volume 162, 15 March 2019, Pages 321-325), highlighting the influence on the initial phase composition on the H-behaviour. Crucially, we demonstrated that H-introduction during specimen preparation could be avoided by performing the final steps of the specimen preparation at cryogenic temperatures, as shown in Nature communications 10 (1), 942, borrowing techniques from biologists. In parallel, we started studying stable hydrides and deuterides of Zr, in a collaboration with Dr Ben Britton from Imperial College London, and we revealed interesting processes taking place between the hydride and the metallic matrix, namely a redistribution of Sn and the presence of an interfacial region with a different crystal structure and composition – published in Scripta Materialia. We went on to perform a systematic study of how well hydrogen or deuterium could be quantified in Zr-based hydrides and Ti-hydrides, with publications in Microscopy & MIcroanalysis and New Journal of Physics. We also designed a gas charging chamber for atom probe specimens (Plos one 17 (2), e0262543) and explored the many possible paths for specimen preparation and analysis (Open Research Europe 1 (12), Acta Materialia 188, 108-120) to optimise the results in the analysis of both austenitic and ferritic/martensitic steels. The working group also made substantial contributions in the analysis of how hydrogen causes embrittlement of high-strength Al-alloys (Nature 602 (7897), 437-441, Nature Communications 13 (1), 4290), Ti-alloys (Scripta Materialia 213, 114640) but also bulk magnets (Advanced Materials 33 (5) 2006853). We also made strides in the analysis of catalyst materials for the hydrogen cycle - either for the electrolysers or fuel cells, and with an empahsis on the role of impurities on the durability (Journal of the American Chemical Society 144 987-994) and dopants on the performance (Advanced Materials 34 2022 2203030) of nanocatalysts. We branched out and initiated the analysis of processes taking place during the reduction of iron ore by hydrogen (Acta Materialia 212, 116933), leading in principle to the possibility of making 'green steel'.
