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Relevance of the cathodic process on the passivation of stainless steels – an approximation to the origin of the rouging phenomenon
Author(s) -
Klapper H. Sarmiento,
Göllner J.,
Heyn A.,
Burkert A.
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
materials and corrosion
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.487
H-Index - 55
eISSN - 1521-4176
pISSN - 0947-5117
DOI - 10.1002/maco.201005668
Subject(s) - passivation , cathodic protection , materials science , metallurgy , alloy , corrosion , layer (electronics) , electrochemistry , composite material , electrode , chemistry
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.