This award will support a three-month visit by Dr. Selman to Kyoto University where he will collaborate with Professors Zenichi Takehara of the Department of Industrial Chemistry), and Yasuhiko Ito of the Department of Nuclear Engineering. Their aim is to develop a nucleation model which can be applied to refractory metal deposition. This is important because, whereas interest in refractory coatings for commercial applications continues to increase, particularly for high-temperature corrosion and wear resistance, attempts to improve the process by which this may be attained (molten salt electrochemical deposition) are doomed to failure without a better understanding of the mechanism by which refractory coatings are started and the factor which control how they stick to and grow on the base. Nucleation is an important aspect of this process. The American and Japanese counterparts have previous experience in this process which should make their joint efforts complementary and effective.
