The School of Mechanical and Materials Engineering Seminar Series, “Workflow strategies for characterizing surface resilience of structural materials in extreme environments” Presented by Dr. Trishelle Copeland-Johnson

About the event

Workflow strategies for characterizing surface resilience of structural materials in extreme environments

Presented by Dr. Trishelle Copeland-Johnson, Assistant Professor, Texas Southern University

Abstract:
The United States has set nuclear deployment targets to 35 GW by 2035, 15 GW/year by 2040, and tripled capacity by 2050, driving efforts to enhance the performance of the existing light water nuclear reactor fleet and commercialization of advanced nuclear reactors like molten chloride fast reactors (MSRs), high-temperature gas reactors (HTGRs), and lead cooled fast reactors (LFRs). Both nuclear reactor technologies require high-performance structural materials with strong surface resilience with withstand operating conditions, notably corrosion, temperature, and irradiation. Candidate structural materials need to undergo extensive characterization to develop a comprehensive knowledgebase for strategic enhancement of current and design of future high-performance structural materials. These knowledgebases are derived through optimizing characterization strategies to evaluate resilient surfaces in high-performance applications, reevaluating existing and developing novel materials testing and characterization workflows to assess specimen structure-property-performance relationships. The purpose of this discussion is to share case studies on how advanced characterization workflows were implemented to evaluate surface resilience of nuclear structural materials for both light water and advanced nuclear reactor applications, notably chloride MSRs. For example, one case study will illustrate evaluating the passivation of accident tolerant fuel cladding candidate materials to enhance the safety basis of existing light water nuclear reactors using Raman spectroscopy, x-ray diffraction (XRD), and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Another example evaluates Hastelloy N and C-276 alloys before and after exposure to fuel salt NaCl-UCl3 salt at 700°C for 25, 500, and 1000 hours, using grazing-incidence x-ray diffraction to characterize surface structural changes and analytical scanning electron microscopy techniques, including energy-dispersive x-ray spectroscopy and electron backscatter diffraction, to characterize compositional and microstructural evolution, respectively, aiming to identify suitable materials for chloride MSR components. Overall, the aim of reevaluating existing and implementing novel material characterization workflows to improve the accuracy of evaluating surface resilience of structural materials under extreme environments, leading in more strategic and efficient lifetime performance assessments.

Biography:
Trishelle Copeland-Johnson is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Chemical Engineering & Environmental Toxicology at Texas Southern University (TSU). She joined the faculty in 2026 after serving over 5 years as a Materials Research Scientist at Idaho National Laboratory (INL) developing an expertise in strategizing characterization workflows to enhance the surface resiliency of structural materials in extreme environments.

Dr. Copeland-Johnson arrived at INL as a Glenn T. Seaborg Distinguished Postdoctoral Research Associate in 2021, investigating the role of actinide products on the corrosion mechanisms of Ni-based superalloys in chloride molten salts and the synergistic effects of gamma irradiation and radiolysis on the evolution of surface corrosion products on aluminum spent nuclear fuel cladding alloys. Dr. Copeland-Johnson transitioned to Materials Research Scientist in 2022, investigating corrosion resiliency for structural materials for applications in fission and fusion reactors. She led an INL laboratory-based research and development (LDRD) initiative to elucidate the role of long-range ordering phase transformations on the corrosion mechanism of Ni-based alloys in molten salts. She was also co-principal investigator on a project funded by the Department of Energy Office of Basic Energy Sciences, leading groundbreaking efforts to investigate the impact iodide fission products on the corrosion mechanism of Ni-based alloys in chloride molten salts. Dr. Copeland-Johnson serves as key personnel under the Environmental Effects Technical Area of the Office of Nuclear Energy Advanced Materials and Manufacturing Technologies Program, evaluating the corrosion resiliency of additively manufactured SS316H in molten salts. She also serves as key personnel on the Accelerating Fusion Blanket Development through Nuclear Testing DOE Fusion Innovative Research Engine collaborative, leading post-irradiation examination efforts of reduced activated ferritic-martensitic steels subject to irradiation-enhanced corrosion in liquid metals for fusion power plants. She was awarded a 2025 INL Early Career LDRD to explore wide bandgap coatings in corrosion mitigation strategies for nickel-based alloys in molten salt.

At TSU, Dr. Copeland-Johnson, leads the Surface Integrity through Testing and Research Using Surface Science (SITRUSS) group is to optimize strategies for developing resilient surfaces in high-performance applications, including chemical, nuclear, maritime, infrastructural, and biomedical applications. SITRUSS aims to reevaluate existing and developing novel materials testing and characterization workflows to assess specimens subjected to extreme environments (e.g. temperature, radiation, biological, etc.), synergistically with computational modelling toolsets to predict degradation behavior.

Dr. Copeland-Johnson also has an extensive record of professional development and outreach activities. She has served as the chair and vice-chair for the User Executive Committee for the BNL Center for Functional Nanomaterials, a Department of Nanoscale Science Research Center. She also organizes technical symposia on materials corrosion behavior in advanced nuclear reactor environments, sponsored by the Corrosion and Environmental Effects Committee of the Minerals, Metals, & Materials Society (TMS). Also, she is a stanch supporter of workforce development efforts through the National Organization for the Advancement of Black Chemists and Chemical Engineers (NOBCChE), TMS, the National GEM Consortium, and the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) Minority Serving Institutions Partnership. She was awarded the 2022 INL Materials and Fuels Complex Mentor of the Year and 2025 TMS Structural Materials Division Young Leaders Professional Development Award for her contributions as a networking and technical mentor to graduate students, postdoctoral researchers, and early career staff within the nuclear materials community.