Limitations of Hydrogen Detection After 150 Years of Research on Hydrogen Embrittlement

Hydrogen’s significance in contemporary society lies in its remarkable energydensity, yet its integration into the worldwide energy grid presents a substantialchallenge. Exposing materials to hydrogen environments leads to degradation ofmechanical properties, damage, and failure. While the current approach forassessing hydrogen’s impact on materials involves mainly multiscale modelingand mechanical testing, there exists a significant deficiency in detecting theintricate interactions between hydrogen and materials at the nanoatomic scalesand under in situ conditions. This perspective review highlights the experimentalendeavors aimed at bridging this gap, pointing toward the imminent need fornew experimental techniques that can detect and map hydrogen in materials’microstructures and their site-specific dependencies.