Passivation-Induced Physicochemical Alterations of the Native Surface Oxide Film on 316L Austenitic Stainless Steel
Time of Flight Secondary Ion Mass Spectroscopy, X-Ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy, in situ Photo-Current Spectroscopy and electrochemical analysis were combined to characterize the physicochemical alterations induced by electrochemical passivation of the surface oxide film providing corrosion resistance to 316L stainless steel. The as-prepared surface is covered by a ~2 nm thick, mixed (Cr(III)-Fe(III)) and bi-layered hydroxylated oxide. The inner layer is highly enriched in Cr(III) and the outer layer less so. Molybdenum is concentrated, mostly as Mo(VI), in the outer layer. Nickel is only present at trace level. These inner and outer layers have band gap values of 3.0 and 2.6-2.7 eV, respe…
Double Step Electrochemical Process for the Deposition of Superhydrophobic Coatings for Enhanced Corrosion Resistance
Superhydrophobic surface on anodized AA5083 sample was obtained by an electrochemical process. Scanning Electron Microscopy and Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy analyses revealed the hierarchical structure of the coating and the presence of manganese stearate. These features were crucial for the coating superhydrophobicity, demonstrated by a measured contact angle of ~ 163° and its self-cleaning ability. Electrochemical characterization in an aqueous solution mimicking seawater proved an enhanced corrosion resistance due to the superhydrophobic coating with respect to anodized AA5083 sample that also lasted after 20 immersion days in Cl- containing electrolyte.
Characterization of the Solid State Properties of Anodic Oxides on Ta-Nb Alloys as a Function of the Anodizing Conditions
Tantalum oxide, niobium oxide and Ta-Nb containing mixed oxides were grown by anodizing sputter-deposited TaxNb(1-x) alloys with 0 ≤ x ≤ 1. A photoelectrochemical investigation was performed in order to estimate the band gap values of the oxides as a function of their composition as well as to estimate their flat band potential. Differential capacitance curves were recorded for all the investigated oxides in a wide range of electrode potential and for several frequencies of the alternative signal. The dependence of C on the applied potential and a.c. frequency was interpreted on the basis of amorphous semiconductor Schottky barrier, and allowed to estimate the dielectric constant of the inv…
Characterization of Thin Passive Film-Electrolyte Junctions. The Amorphous Semiconductor (a-SC) Schottky Barrier Approach.
A detailed study of the electronic properties of thin (< 20 nm) anodic TiO2 potentiostatically grown on titanium in two different solutions is presented. The results show that the nature of the anodizing solution affects the electronic properties of the anodic film and in particular the density of electronic state (DOS) distribution. Different DOS were derived from the experimental data analyzed according to the theory of amorphous semiconductor (a-SC) Schottky barrier. It is shown that the usual non-linear and frequency dependent Mott-Schottky plots are in agreement with expected theoretical behaviour of a-SC Schottky barrier. It is shown the importance of the DOS distribution in determini…
Optimization of anodizing process of tantalum for Ta2O5-based capacitors
Anodic oxides were grown to 50 V on Ta in several organic ions containing anodizing baths. Their properties were compared with anodic Ta oxide film grown to the same formation voltage in 0.1 M NaOH. Anodizing process carried out in sodium citrate led to the growth of the anodic oxide with the best blocking properties whilst, when Ta is anodized in sodium adipate, a significant part of the circulated charge is wasted in side reactions, such as oxygen evolution. Photoelectrochemical measurements showed the presence of optical transitions at energy lower than the band gap for the anodic films grown in citrate and tartrate electrolytes, attributed to localized electronic states located close to…