Electrochemical analysis of corrosion phenomena
Most corrosion phenomena are of electrochemical nature. Aqueous corrosion processes at material-solution interfaces involve both anodic and cathodic electrochemical reactions, which are influenced by the material and its microstructure, and by the aqueous environments.
Research leader
Research area
Since 1990s, the research group has applied or adapted spectroscopic and microscopic electrochemical techniques to study the interfacial processes of metallic materials exposed to aqueous solutions relavent for the applications. The electrochemical techniques used include different d.c. polarization measurements, EIS (electrochemical impedance spectroscopy) and ENA (noise analysis), and microscopic techniques such as STM (scanning tunnelling microscopy), AFM (atomic force microscopy) and SECM (scanning electrochemical microscopy). The materials studied are mainly highly resistant alloys like stainless steels, titanium alloys, aluminum alloys, cobalt-based alloys. The coatings investigated include oxides and nitrides as well as conducting polymers. The results obtained provide an improved understanding of corrosion mechanism and influence of the microstructure, passivity and corrosion resistance, corrosion protection by coatings and inhibitors. The research projects are often aiming at optimization and design of materials with respect to the microstructural influence on the corrosion behavior, evaluation and improvement of corrosion resistance and biocompatibility of biomedical materials, testing and explore new “green” corrosion inhibitors and coatings, and monitoring corrosion processes to access the risk for important systems like nuclear waste repository.
Keywords
Aqueous corrosion, interfacial processes, local electrochemistry, alloys, biomaterials, microstructure, anticorrosion coatings, in situ studies, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS), electrochemical noise analysis (ENA), electrochmical atomic force microscopy (EC-AFM), scaning electrochemical microscopy (SECM).
Source of funding
VR (Swedish Research Council)
SSF (Swedish Foundation for Strategic Research)
Mistra (The Foundation for Strategic Enviromental Research)
HTC (Swedish Competence Centre for High Temperature Corrosion)
SKB (Swedish Nuclear Waste Management)
Eurofer (European Confederation of Iron and Steel Industries)
ISSF (International Stainless Steel Forum)
St. Jude Medical
Sapa Technology
Sandvik Materials Technology
SSAB
Kanthal AB
Uddeholm Tooling