Surfaces, Interfaces and Their Applications II

Abstract

Introduction to fundamental aspects of degradation and functionalizing induced on materials by (electro)chemical and physical interactions. Surface physico-chemical processes on metal/alloys exposed to aggressive environments will be described. The different corrosion mechanisms and protection strategies will be presented combined with a description of their relevant characterization methods.

Objective

The students should learn and understand the fundamental mechanisms responsible for the most important corrosion phenomena affecting "classical" industrial relevant metals/alloys and they should know the limitation in the use of these "standard" materials in aggressive environments. They should be able to explain in detail the degradation mechanisms of Stainless Steels and Aluminium alloys always presented as reference materials during the lecture. Moreover and more importantly, they should then be able to transfer this acquired knowledge about corrosion mechanisms directly in the developments phase of very different new materials/coatings. This in order to minimize the corrosive failure risks and increase the sustainability of new industrial products. Finally and as most important asset of the lecture, they should know how to approach a corrosion problem/failure and be able to propose the right characterization techniques/methodology to investigate each specific corrosion problems.

Content

The most important types of corrosion mechanisms will be presented and discussed during the different lectures. The semester will start with some short basics about thermodynamics and reaction kinetics. Afterwards and for each specific corrosion phenomenon, the most relevant experimental characterization method will always be introduced directly after the explanations about the corrosion mechanism. This combination allows the student to couple theoretical physico-chemical concepts with practical characterization methodologies used in corrosion research. It also indicates the most relevant methodologies to answer each of the stages of a corrosion process. Following topics will be presented (mechanism/method used): - Thermodynamics related to corrosion processes prediction - Corrosion reaction kinetics / DC electrochemical methods - Passivation and passive film properties / XPS (X-Ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy) and EQCM (Electrochemical Quartz Crystal Microgravimetry) - Uniform corrosion/Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy (EIS) with the example of Magnesium biocorrosion - Galvanic corrosion/AFM-SKPFM (Atomic Force Microscopy based Scanning Kelvin Probe Force Microscopy) - Localized corrosion (pitting)/ Microcapillary cell technique - Photoelectrochemistry and Crevice corrosion with description of specific electrochemical setups and medical implant problems - Intergranular corrosion and mathematical modelling concepts / Microtomography - Stress corrosion cracking (SCC) / corrosion-fatigue - Selected examples of functional anodic oxide growth and more "exotic" corrosion mechanisms (Si, Ag, Ta, a.s.o), corrosion protection and surface functionalizing will be presented at the end if times permit

Resources