Identifying suboxide grains at the metal–oxide interface of a corroded Zr–1.0%Nb alloy using (S)TEM, transmission-EBSD and EELS

Here we report a methodology combining TEM, STEM, Transmission-EBSD and EELS to analyse the structural and chemical properties of the metal–oxide interface of corroded Zr alloys in unprecedented detail. TEM, STEM and diffraction results revealed the complexity of the distribution of suboxide grains at the metal–oxide interface. EELS provided accurate quantitative analysis of the oxygen concentration across the interface, identifying the existence of local regions of stoichiometric ZrO with varying thickness.