Electrochemical noise (EN) enables corrosion research and monitoring in real time and with high sensitivity. In the case of submicroscopic nucleation events of pitting corrosion it has been observed that the cathodic process plays a decisive role in the mechanism as well as in the origin of EN signals, which depend not only on the metallic dissolution reaction but also on the electron-consuming process. EN signals arising from the nucleation process of localized corrosion on stainless steels can only be recorded due to the inhibition effect on the cathodic process achieved by the spontaneous formation of the passive layer. In consequence, passive layer stability becomes a significant factor in influencing EN signals. The way in which the passive layer stability affects the acquisition and analysis of EN signals arising from pitting corrosion on stainless steels is discussed in detail.
The main problem limiting the application of magnesium alloys as biodegradable implant material is its high degradation rate. In order to slow down the corrosion rate an extrusion process and specific coating systems based on plasma-chemical oxidation (PCO) and organic dip coating with poly(ʟ-lactid-co-caprolacton) (PLLC) were applied on Mg–1Ca magnesium alloy. The additional PLLC coating is used to delay the start of substrate corrosion, while the purpose of the PCO coating is to decrease the substrate corrosion rate. The corrosion behaviour was investigated in synthetic body fluid (SBF) through measurement of the hydrogen evolution rate in long term tests and polarisation and electrochemical noise measurements in short term tests. The results showed significant differences between the cast and extruded alloys and a decrease of the corrosion rate due to corrosion product formation. The combination of both coating systems resulted in a significant delay of metal substrate corrosion and all coating systems showed good correlation between short and long term tests. The combination of the three investigation methods provides the possibility to gain more information about the degradation behaviour and break down of protective coatings.
Sixteen laboratories have performed electrochemical noise (EN) measurements based on two systems. The first uses a series of dummy cells consisting of a 'star' arrangement of resistors in order to validate the EN measurement equipment and determine its baseline noise performance, while the second system, based on a previous round-robin in the literature, examines the corrosion of aluminium in three environments. All participants used the same measurement protocol and the data reporting and analysis were performed with automatic procedures to avoid errors. The measurement instruments used in the various laboratories include commercial general-purpose potentiostats and custom-built EN systems. The measurements on dummy cells have demonstrated that few systems are capable of achieving instrument noise levels comparable to the thermal noise of the resistors, because of its low level. However, it is of greater concern that some of the instruments exhibited significant artefacts in the measured data, mostly because of the absence of anti-aliasing filters in the equipment or because the way it is used. The measurements on the aluminium samples involve a much higher source noise level during pitting corrosion, and most (though not all) instruments were able to make reliable measurements. However, during passivation, the low level of noise could be measured by very few systems. The round-robin testing has clearly shown that improvements are necessary in the choice of EN measurement equipment and settings and in the way to validate EN data measured. The results emphasise the need to validate measurement systems by using dummy cells and the need to check systematically that the noise of the electrochemical cell to be measured is significantly higher than the instrument noise measured with dummy cells of similar impedance.
Unwanted corrosive phenomena on stainless steel surfaces like rouging had been observed for years occurring at certain service conditions. Rouging consists in the formation of a colored surface film containing mainly iron on metallic surfaces in contact with high-purity waters. In spite of numerous hypotheses and experimental examinations a clear explanation about the origin of rouging on stainless steels is currently still lacking. Because rouging occurs even at well passivated stainless steel surfaces the origin of this corrosive phenomenon should be related to the weakness of the stability of the passive film. In the present paper electrochemical noise measurements regarding the stability of the passive layer of alloy 904L (1.4539, X1NiCrMoCu25-20-5) in high-purity water at 70 °C depending on the cathodic process are presented. In addition, the importance of the cathodic reaction on the passivation and stability of the passive layer is discussed.
An important possibility to improve the corrosion behaviour of magnesium alloys is the application of protective coatings. The quality of such coatings depends mainly on the pretreatment and the exposure conditions after pretreatment. Since magnesium surfaces change much faster under atmospheric conditions than those of almost any other technical material, it is necessary to pay special attention to this particular feature. The activity of acid-pickled surfaces of the magnesium alloys AZ31 and AZ91 in dependence on the exposure time and the humidity conditions was investigated with electrochemical noise (EN) measurements. In addition to pickling, plasma chemical vapour deposition processes open new possibilities for an economical, as well as ecologically quite safe, pretreatment. The results of EN investigations after acid pickling as well as specific plasma oxidation treatments of the two magnesium alloys after exposure to air with different humidities are presented.
In the last years, new approaches for the evaluation of the corrosion resistance of martensitic stainless steels were developed, which allow nearly non-destructive as well as short-term corrosion testing. This work analyzes the sensitive influence of microstructure and surface treatment on the corrosion resistance. The effect of alloy composition and microstructure, which is always present in addition to the influence of various surface treatments will be evaluated and discussed. The corrosion behavior was investigated with conventional evaluation of the pitting potential, electrochemical potentiodynamic reactivation (EPR), electrochemical noise (EN), and the 'KorroPad' (KP) technique. EPR provided information about the passivation ability and the extent of chromium content reduction due to chromium carbide precipitation in the microstructure. The use of EN and KP aims to detect the influence of different surface treatment parameters on the corrosion resistance in a nearly non-destructive way. Furthermore the results shall demonstrate the functionality and convenience of the short-term corrosion test methods EN and KP in order to gain more acceptance within the scientific community. The results will allow the extraction of surface treatment effects on the corrosion behavior of the martensitic stainless steels 1.4116, 1.4034, and 1.4021.
Evaluation and Screening of the pre-treatment states of Mg-alloys using Electrochemical Noise
(2009)
A successful application of magnesium alloys as light structural materials and for special applications,
such as in the medical sector, depends significantly on their corrosion properties. Since the use of
well-chosen surface coating systems can optimize these properties, many efforts are going in this
direction. In general, any coating process must be seen in a close connection to the pre-treatment of
the alloy surface, particularly for magnesium alloys.
The pre-treatment is required to prepare the optimal surface for a coating system, in which adhesion
and dissolution behaviour are the central properties. In the case of magnesium alloys this means a
well-controlled removal of the casting or rolling skin, which would be prone to corrosion and poor
adhesion. Additionally, in most cases the surface morphology should be smooth. An investigation of
different pickling solutions and pickling parameters showed a wide range of effectiveness (i.e., the
resulting mass loss and surface morphology). Another important and often underestimated fact is the
comparatively strong tendency of magnesium to react with the atmosphere. For that reason, after a
completed pickling and cleaning treatment the condition of the surrounding atmosphere and the time
prior to coating of the surface should be taken into account because of the formation of different
reaction layers. These layers have an effect on adhesion and the corrosion properties of the coating
system as a whole. For a documentation of the influence of different atmospheres and the timedependence
of the surface activity the measurement of the electrochemical noise is the preferred
technique. This is because it shows instantaneously the actual activity, even in the absence of external
excitation. The influence of different pre-treatments as well as exposure conditions and duration was
investigated using electrochemical noise measurements as a screening method. As a result the pretreatment
which is an important part of the coating process could be considerably improved.
The determination of critical pitting temperatures (CPT) in various test solutions like ferric chloride solution according to ASTM G48 or 'Green Death' solution is a common test method for the comparative assessment of the pitting corrosion resistance of highly alloyed steels and Ni–Cr–Mo alloys. In addition to the well-known disadvantages of standard methods, like long test times, subjective examination, and large scatter, for the highest alloyed Ni–Cr–Mo alloys no stable pitting corrosion can initiate even at the highest test temperatures. This paper describes the limitations of standard test methods and shows how these problems can be solved by an alternative test solution and an adjusted test method. By capturing and examining the current noise under potentiostatic conditions during continuous heating in a 4.5 M calcium chloride solution the transition from metastable to stable pitting corrosion as a criterion for CPT can be detected in a reproducible way.