Electrochemical Performance of Passive Film Formed on Ti-Al-Nb-Zr Alloy in Simulated Deep Sea Environments

doi:10.1007/s40195-019-00958-4

Abstract

Abstract:

Titanium alloy Ti-Al-Nb-Zr has high specific strength and becomes a promising structural material used in the deep sea. The excellent corrosion resistance of the alloy is derived from the protective passive film formed on its surface. By now, full agreement on interpretation of the anti-corrosion performance of the film in marine environment, especially in the deep sea, has not been reached. In this work, the electrochemical performance of two-surface-state Ti-Al-Nb-Zr alloys which are treated by mechanical polishing and anodizing pre-passivation in the simulated shallow sea, 1000 m and 3000 m deep sea environments, is investigated. By interpreting the electrochemical kinetic parameters, it is found that the dominant cathodic process becomes hydrogen evolution in simulated deep sea environments, but the reduction rate is restrained by high hydrostatic pressure, which arrests the passivation of the alloy. Assisted by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy analysis, it is found that the passive film mainly consists of titanium oxides. There are intermediate oxides with non-stoichiometric ratio involved in the film formation due to the low dissolved oxygen concentration and low temperature. The results of Mott-Schottky and electrochemical impedance show that the film has n-type semiconducting property with oxygen vacancies as the main point defects. The anti-corrosion performance in simulated deep sea environments is one order of magnitude lower than that in the simulated shallow sea environment. However, from 1000 to 3000 m, the corrosion resistance is reduced very slightly. In the inner layers of the passive film and the passive film formed in simulated deep sea environments, the proportion of low-valence titanium oxides is relatively high. The doping of low-valence titanium (Ti(II) or Ti(III)) results in a porous structure and ion permeability of the passive film, as well as relatively low corrosion resistance.

Key words: Titanium alloy, Oxide layer, Marine environment, Corrosion resistance, Mott-Schottky

Jing-Jing Dong, Lin Fan, Hai-Bing Zhang, Li-Kun Xu, Li-Li Xue. Electrochemical Performance of Passive Film Formed on Ti-Al-Nb-Zr Alloy in Simulated Deep Sea Environments[J]. Acta Metallurgica Sinica (English Letters), 2020, 33(4): 595-604.

Figures/Tables 13

Fig. 1 Microstructure of TANZ alloy

Table 1 Simulated marine environments for electrochemical measurements

Fig. 2 Schematic diagram of deep sea environment simulation experiment device (1-high purity nitrogen, 2-gas inlet tube, 3-solution container, 4-solution container inlet pipe, 5-coolant outflow pipe, 6-cooling equipment, 7-high pressure vessel, 8-auxiliary electrode, 9-reference electrode, 10-working electrode, 11-coolant inflow pipe, 12-high pressure vessel inlet pipe, 13-solution container outlet pipe, 14-system control unit, 15-high pressure vessel outlet pipe)

Fig. 3 Polarization curves of the mechanically polished (a), the pre-passivated (b) TANZ alloys in the simulated marine environments at various depths

Table 2 Calculated parameters of the polarization curves

Fig. 4 Comparison of the anodic polarization curves of the two-surface-state TANZ alloys in the simulated 1000 m deep sea environment

Fig. 5 Nyquist plots (a), bode plots (b) of the pre-passivated TANZ alloy in the simulated marine environments at various depths

Fig. 6 Schematic diagrams of equivalent circuits for the pre-passivated TANZ alloy

Table 3 Calculated parameters of the EIS plots

Fig. 7 Mott-Schottky curves of the pre-passivated TANZ alloy in the simulated marine environments at various depths

Fig. 8 Donor density of the pre-passivated TANZ alloy in the simulated marine environments at various depths

Fig. 9 XPS results of passive film formed in the simulated shallow sea environment (a) and 3000 m deep sea environment after the etching time of 15 min (b), 60 min (c), 105 min (d)

Fig. 10 Distribution of titanium oxides formed in the simulated 3000 m deep sea environment

References

[1]	A.K. Shukla, R. Balasubramaniam, S. Bhargava, Intermetallics 13, 631 (2005)
[2]	S. Barison, S. Cattarin, S. Daolio, M. Musiani, A. Tuissi, Electrochim. Acta 50, 11 (2004)
[3]	K. Zhu, N. Gui, T. Jiang, M. Zhu, X. Lu, J.Y. Zhang, C.H. Li, Metall. Mater. Trans. A 45, 1761 (2014)
[4]	B. Munirathinam, R. Narayanan, L. Neelakantan, Thin Solid Films 598, 260 (2016)
[5]	J. Dai, J. Zhu, C. Chen, F. Weng, J. Alloys Compd. 685, 784(2016)
[6]	T. Li, J.R. Scully, G.S. Frankel, J. Electrochem. Soc. 165, C762(2018)
[7]	J. Pang, D.J. Blackwood, Corros. Sci. 105, 17(2016)
[8]	Z. Cui, L. Wang, M. Zhong, F. Ge, H. Gao, C. Man, C. Liu, X. Wang, J. Electrochem. Soc. 165, C542(2018)
[9]	A.C. Alves, F. Wenger, P. Ponthiaux, J.-P. Celis, A.M. Pinto, L.A. Rocha, J.C.S. Fernandes, Electrochim. Acta 234, 16 (2017)
[10]	S.A. Politro, R.M. Anderson, D.F. Roeper, D.J. Horton, Electrochim. Acta 224, 419 (2017)
[11]	N. Khayatan, H.M. Ghasemi, M. Abedini, Wear 380-381, 154(2017)
[12]	D. Wei, X. Chen, P. Zhang, F. Ding, F. Li, Z. Yao, Appl. Surf. Sci. 441, 448(2018)
[13]	N. Dai, L. Zhang, J. Zhang, Q. Chen, M. Wu, Corros. Sci. 102, 484(2016)
[14]	T. Zhang, Y. Yang, Y. Shao, G. Meng, F. Wang, Electrochim. Acta 54, 3915 (2009)
[15]	G. Duan, L. Yang, S. Liao, C. Zhang, X. Lu, Y. Yang, B. Zhang, Y. Wei, T. Zhang, B. Yu, X. Zhang, F. Wang, Corros. Sci. 135, 197(2018)
[16]	Q. Hu, Y. Liu, T. Zhang, S. Geng, F. Wang, J. Mater. Sci. Technol. 35, 168(2019)
[17]	T.M. Serikov, NKh Ibrayev, N. Nuraje, S.V. Savilov, V.V. Lunin, Russ. Chem. Bull. 66, 614(2017)
[18]	Y. Huang, D.J. Blackwood, Electrochim. Acta 51, 1099 (2005)
[19]	S.L. de Assis, S. Wolynec, I. Costa, Electrochim. Acta 51, 1815 (2006)
[20]	A.U. Chaudhry, B. Mansoor, T. Mungole, G. Ayuob, D.P. Field, Electrochim. Acta 264, 69 (2018)
[21]	S.M. Bhola, R. Bhola, B. Mishra, D.L. Olson, J. Mater. Sci. 45, 6179(2010)
[22]	J.N. Laboulais, A.A. Mata, V.A. Borrás, A.I. Muñoz, Electrochim. Acta 227, 410 (2017)
[23]	M.C.K. Sellers, E.G. Seebauer, Thin Solid Films 519, 2103 (2011)
[24]	Z. Cui, L. Wang, H. Ni, W. Hao, C. Man, S. Chen, X. Wang, Z. Liu, X. Li, Corros. Sci. 118, 31(2017)
[25]	Z. Cui, S. Chen, L. Wang, C. Man, Z. Liu, J. Wu, X. Wang, S. Chen, X. Li, J. Electrochem. Soc. 164, C856(2017)
[26]	N. Comisso, L. Armelao, S. Cattarin, P. Guerriero, L. Mattarozzi, M. Musiani, M. Rancan, L. Vázquez-Gómez, E. Verlato, Electrochim. Acta 273, 454 (2018)
[27]	H. Tian, X. Wang, Z. Cui, Q. Lu, L. Wang, L. Lei, Y. Li, D. Zhang, Corros. Sci. 144, 145(2018)
[28]	F. Sun, S. Ren, Z. Li, Z. Liu, X. Li, C. Du, Mater. Sci. Eng. A 685, 145 (2017)
[29]	Y. Yang, T. Zhang, Y. Shao, G. Meng, F. Wang, Corros. Sci. 52, 2697(2010)
[30]	T. Zhao, Z. Liu, C. Du, M. Sun, X. Li, Int. J. Fatigue 110, 105 (2018)
[31]	Y. Doi, M. Tamaki, Inorg. Chim. Acta 64, L145 (1982)
[32]	Z. Yang, B. Kan, J. Li, Y. Su, L. Qiao, J. Electroanal. Chem. 822, 123(2018)
[33]	Chojnacka, J. Kawalko, H. Koscielny, J. Guspiel, A. Drewienkiewicz, M. Bieda, W. Pachla, M. Kulczyk, K. Sztwiertnia, E. Beltowska-Lehman, Appl. Surf. Sci. 426, 987(2017)
[34]	R. Roy, W.B. White, J. Crystal Growth 13-14, 78 (1972)
[35]	S.H. Hong, Acta Chem. Scand. 36, 207(1982)
[36]	W. Liu, X. Cao, S. Peng, X. Long, S. Luo, W. Wang, Surf. Technol. 36, 51(2007)
[37]	H. Luo, H. Su, C. Dong, X. Li, Appl. Surf. Sci. 400, 38(2017)
[38]	Fattah-Alhosseini, M. Naseri, S.O. Gashti, S. Vafaeian, M.K. Keshavarz, Corros. Sci. 131, 81(2018)
[39]	K. Liu, J.G. Duh, J. Mater. Sci. 43, 3589(2008)
[40]	Y. Zuo, R. Pang, W. Li, J. Xiong, Y. Tang, Corros. Sci. 50, 3322(2008)
[41]	N.A. Sapoletova, S.E. Kushnir, K.S. Napolskii, Electrochem. Commun. 91, 5(2018)
[42]	da Fonseca, S. Boudin, Belo M. da Cunha, J. Electroanal. Chem. 379, 173(1994)
[43]	J. Amri, T. Souier, B. Malki, B. Baroux, Corros. Sci. 50, 431(2008)
[44]	Z. Cui, S. Chen, Y. Dou, S. Han, L. Wang, C. Man, X. Wang, S. Chen, Y.F. Cheng, X. Li, Corros. Sci. 150, 218(2019)
[45]	J.G. Odhiambo, L. Zhang, T. Liu, L. Dong, Y. Yin, Appl. Mech. Mater. 513-517, 189(2014)