Assessing microbially influenced corrosion of titanium as novel canister material for geological disposal facilities

Mumford, Adam; Martinez-Moreno, Marcos F.; Morales-Hidalgo, Mar; Povedano-Priego, Cristina; Generelo-Casajus, Lidia; Jroundi, Fadwa; Anguilano, Lorna; Onwukwe, Uchechukwu; Gardiner, Philip H.E.; Merroun, Mohamed L.; Ju-Nam, Yon; Ledo, Jesus Ojeda

doi:10.1016/j.apsusc.2025.164779

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Assessing microbially influenced corrosion of titanium as novel canister material for geological disposal facilities

Adam Mumford, Marcos F. Martinez-Moreno

, Mar Morales-Hidalgo

, Cristina Povedano-Priego, Lidia Generelo-Casajus

, Fadwa Jroundi, Lorna Anguilano, Uchechukwu Onwukwe

, Philip H.E. Gardiner, Mohamed L. Merroun, Yon Ju-Nam

, Jesus Ojeda Ledo

Applied Surface Science, Volume: 717, Start page: 164779

Swansea University Authors: Adam Mumford, Yon Ju-Nam , Jesus Ojeda Ledo

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DOI (Published version): 10.1016/j.apsusc.2025.164779

Abstract

In response to the growing global inventory of nuclear waste and the urgent need for secure long-term disposal solutions, geological disposal facilities (GDFs), also known as deep geological repositories, are being pursued worldwide. Several national programmes, including those in the UK, Japan, and...

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Published in:	Applied Surface Science
ISSN:	0169-4332 1873-5584
Published:	Elsevier BV 2026
Online Access:	Check full text
URI:	https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa70549

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Several national programmes, including those in the UK, Japan, and Canada, are evaluating corrosion-resistant alloys for waste canisters. Among these, novel materials such as titanium alloys have emerged as promising candidates due to their protective TiO₂ films. However, the threat of microbial corrosion under repository-relevant conditions remains highly unexplored. To address this, titanium discs (grade 2, ASTM B348) were incubated in bentonite slurries with synthetic pore-water at 30 °C and 60 °C under strictly anoxic, dark conditions, mimicking deep underground GDF environments. Electron donors (acetate, lactate) and an electron acceptor (sulphate) were added to stimulate microbial activity and assess long-term canister performance. All titanium samples retained an intact TiO₂ layer with no detectable pitting or localised damage. Microscopic (SEM) and spectroscopic (XPS) analyses showed slight thinning of titanium oxide films and microbial presence co-located with bentonite, but no evidence of corrosion products or metal loss. Micro-FTIR showed functional groups associated with microbial presence (proteins, lipids, and polysaccharides) in the bentonite, but not on titanium surfaces. The experimental design aimed to promote bacterial activity to simulate worst-case GDF biotic conditions.These findings demonstrate titanium’s exceptional stability against microbially influenced corrosion (MIC) in stimulated GDF-like environments. This study supports the structural viability of titanium canisters for nuclear waste disposal and underscores the importance of considering microbial factors in long-term corrosion assessments.</abstract><type>Journal Article</type><journal>Applied Surface Science</journal><volume>717</volume><journalNumber/><paginationStart>164779</paginationStart><paginationEnd/><publisher>Elsevier BV</publisher><placeOfPublication/><isbnPrint/><isbnElectronic/><issnPrint>0169-4332</issnPrint><issnElectronic>1873-5584</issnElectronic><keywords>Corrosion; Titanium; Nuclear Waste; Geological Disposal Facilities (GDFs); Microbially Influenced Corrosion (MIC); H2S</keywords><publishedDay>1</publishedDay><publishedMonth>2</publishedMonth><publishedYear>2026</publishedYear><publishedDate>2026-02-01</publishedDate><doi>10.1016/j.apsusc.2025.164779</doi><url/><notes/><college>COLLEGE NANME</college><CollegeCode>COLLEGE CODE</CollegeCode><institution>Swansea University</institution><apcterm>SU Library paid the OA fee (TA Institutional Deal)</apcterm><funders>MLM acknowledges funds from grant PID2022\u2013138402NB-C21 funded by MICIU/AEI/10.13039/501100011033 and by ERDF. In addition, this work was funded by EURAD 1 & 2 initiatives under H2020-EURATOM (grant agreements 847593 and 101166718) awarded to MLM. MMH acknowledges support from grant FPU20/00583 from the Spanish Ministry of Universities. 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spelling	2025-11-04T13:46:02.8629531 v2 70549 2025-09-30 Assessing microbially influenced corrosion of titanium as novel canister material for geological disposal facilities 950f680b2dfca0e78d8dd229be5babd7 Adam Mumford Adam Mumford true false b219fdfea246d96dfc9c4eecfd60f2a6 0000-0003-2972-8073 Yon Ju-Nam Yon Ju-Nam true false 4c1c9800dffa623353dff0ab1271be64 0000-0002-2046-1010 Jesus Ojeda Ledo Jesus Ojeda Ledo true false 2025-09-30 In response to the growing global inventory of nuclear waste and the urgent need for secure long-term disposal solutions, geological disposal facilities (GDFs), also known as deep geological repositories, are being pursued worldwide. Several national programmes, including those in the UK, Japan, and Canada, are evaluating corrosion-resistant alloys for waste canisters. Among these, novel materials such as titanium alloys have emerged as promising candidates due to their protective TiO₂ films. However, the threat of microbial corrosion under repository-relevant conditions remains highly unexplored. To address this, titanium discs (grade 2, ASTM B348) were incubated in bentonite slurries with synthetic pore-water at 30 °C and 60 °C under strictly anoxic, dark conditions, mimicking deep underground GDF environments. Electron donors (acetate, lactate) and an electron acceptor (sulphate) were added to stimulate microbial activity and assess long-term canister performance. All titanium samples retained an intact TiO₂ layer with no detectable pitting or localised damage. Microscopic (SEM) and spectroscopic (XPS) analyses showed slight thinning of titanium oxide films and microbial presence co-located with bentonite, but no evidence of corrosion products or metal loss. Micro-FTIR showed functional groups associated with microbial presence (proteins, lipids, and polysaccharides) in the bentonite, but not on titanium surfaces. The experimental design aimed to promote bacterial activity to simulate worst-case GDF biotic conditions.These findings demonstrate titanium’s exceptional stability against microbially influenced corrosion (MIC) in stimulated GDF-like environments. This study supports the structural viability of titanium canisters for nuclear waste disposal and underscores the importance of considering microbial factors in long-term corrosion assessments. Journal Article Applied Surface Science 717 164779 Elsevier BV 0169-4332 1873-5584 Corrosion; Titanium; Nuclear Waste; Geological Disposal Facilities (GDFs); Microbially Influenced Corrosion (MIC); H2S 1 2 2026 2026-02-01 10.1016/j.apsusc.2025.164779 COLLEGE NANME COLLEGE CODE Swansea University SU Library paid the OA fee (TA Institutional Deal) MLM acknowledges funds from grant PID2022\u2013138402NB-C21 funded by MICIU/AEI/10.13039/501100011033 and by ERDF. In addition, this work was funded by EURAD 1 & 2 initiatives under H2020-EURATOM (grant agreements 847593 and 101166718) awarded to MLM. MMH acknowledges support from grant FPU20/00583 from the Spanish Ministry of Universities. ADM acknowledges funding from the UK Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) DTP scholarship (project reference: 2748843). 2025-11-04T13:46:02.8629531 2025-09-30T21:12:02.8571129 Faculty of Science and Engineering School of Engineering and Applied Sciences - Chemical Engineering Adam Mumford 1 Marcos F. Martinez-Moreno 0000-0002-6808-1922 2 Mar Morales-Hidalgo 0000-0002-4034-6212 3 Cristina Povedano-Priego 4 Lidia Generelo-Casajus 0009-0000-4801-9083 5 Fadwa Jroundi 6 Lorna Anguilano 7 Uchechukwu Onwukwe 0000-0003-3289-6908 8 Philip H.E. Gardiner 9 Mohamed L. Merroun 10 Yon Ju-Nam 0000-0003-2972-8073 11 Jesus Ojeda Ledo 0000-0002-2046-1010 12 70549__35316__9012007fd55347239dc9c18d79fdd193.pdf 1-s2.0-S016943322502495X-main.pdf 2025-10-11T18:43:57.5537974 Output 12459780 application/pdf Version of Record true © 2025 The Authors. This is an open access article under the CC BY license. true eng http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
title	Assessing microbially influenced corrosion of titanium as novel canister material for geological disposal facilities
spellingShingle	Assessing microbially influenced corrosion of titanium as novel canister material for geological disposal facilities Adam Mumford Yon Ju-Nam Jesus Ojeda Ledo
title_short	Assessing microbially influenced corrosion of titanium as novel canister material for geological disposal facilities
title_full	Assessing microbially influenced corrosion of titanium as novel canister material for geological disposal facilities
title_fullStr	Assessing microbially influenced corrosion of titanium as novel canister material for geological disposal facilities
title_full_unstemmed	Assessing microbially influenced corrosion of titanium as novel canister material for geological disposal facilities
title_sort	Assessing microbially influenced corrosion of titanium as novel canister material for geological disposal facilities
author_id_str_mv	950f680b2dfca0e78d8dd229be5babd7 b219fdfea246d96dfc9c4eecfd60f2a6 4c1c9800dffa623353dff0ab1271be64
author_id_fullname_str_mv	950f680b2dfca0e78d8dd229be5babd7_*_Adam Mumford b219fdfea246d96dfc9c4eecfd60f2a6__Yon Ju-Nam 4c1c9800dffa623353dff0ab1271be64_**_Jesus Ojeda Ledo
author	Adam Mumford Yon Ju-Nam Jesus Ojeda Ledo
author2	Adam Mumford Marcos F. Martinez-Moreno Mar Morales-Hidalgo Cristina Povedano-Priego Lidia Generelo-Casajus Fadwa Jroundi Lorna Anguilano Uchechukwu Onwukwe Philip H.E. Gardiner Mohamed L. Merroun Yon Ju-Nam Jesus Ojeda Ledo
format	Journal article
container_title	Applied Surface Science
container_volume	717
container_start_page	164779
publishDate	2026
institution	Swansea University
issn	0169-4332 1873-5584
doi_str_mv	10.1016/j.apsusc.2025.164779
publisher	Elsevier BV
college_str	Faculty of Science and Engineering
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hierarchy_top_title	Faculty of Science and Engineering
hierarchy_parent_id	facultyofscienceandengineering
hierarchy_parent_title	Faculty of Science and Engineering
department_str	School of Engineering and Applied Sciences - Chemical Engineering{{{_:::_}}}Faculty of Science and Engineering{{{_:::_}}}School of Engineering and Applied Sciences - Chemical Engineering
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description	In response to the growing global inventory of nuclear waste and the urgent need for secure long-term disposal solutions, geological disposal facilities (GDFs), also known as deep geological repositories, are being pursued worldwide. Several national programmes, including those in the UK, Japan, and Canada, are evaluating corrosion-resistant alloys for waste canisters. Among these, novel materials such as titanium alloys have emerged as promising candidates due to their protective TiO₂ films. However, the threat of microbial corrosion under repository-relevant conditions remains highly unexplored. To address this, titanium discs (grade 2, ASTM B348) were incubated in bentonite slurries with synthetic pore-water at 30 °C and 60 °C under strictly anoxic, dark conditions, mimicking deep underground GDF environments. Electron donors (acetate, lactate) and an electron acceptor (sulphate) were added to stimulate microbial activity and assess long-term canister performance. All titanium samples retained an intact TiO₂ layer with no detectable pitting or localised damage. Microscopic (SEM) and spectroscopic (XPS) analyses showed slight thinning of titanium oxide films and microbial presence co-located with bentonite, but no evidence of corrosion products or metal loss. Micro-FTIR showed functional groups associated with microbial presence (proteins, lipids, and polysaccharides) in the bentonite, but not on titanium surfaces. The experimental design aimed to promote bacterial activity to simulate worst-case GDF biotic conditions.These findings demonstrate titanium’s exceptional stability against microbially influenced corrosion (MIC) in stimulated GDF-like environments. This study supports the structural viability of titanium canisters for nuclear waste disposal and underscores the importance of considering microbial factors in long-term corrosion assessments.
published_date	2026-02-01T05:25:14Z
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Assessing microbially influenced corrosion of titanium as novel canister material for geological disposal facilities

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