Cerium addition on pitting corrosion of (Cu50Zr50)100–2xCe2x(x=0, 1, 2 and 3) metallic glasses in seawater

The industrial application of metallic glass is a longstanding challenge for researchers in the field. Toward this objective, the electrochemical performance in sea water of Cu-Zr-(Ce) metallic glass with various Ce content was investigated. Cu-Zr-(Ce) metallic glass was fabricated by melt-spinning technique and characterized by X-ray diffraction. The corrosion resistance in seawater was then investigated by potentiodynamic polarization, immersion test, scanning electron microscopy, electron probe microanalysis, and energy dispersive spectrometer analysis. The results showed that Ce addition lowered the corrosion current density of Ce-containing Cu-Zr alloy system. The attack type changed from uniform corrosion of Cu50Zr50 metallic glasses to local one of the Ce-containing alloys. Appropriate content of Ce inhibited the selective dissolution of Cu in the pits and thus improved the corrosion resistance of the alloys.

Potentiodynamic polarization curves of (Cu50Zr50)100–2xCe2x (x=0, 1, 2 and 3) metallic glasses in seawater recorded at scan rate 2 mV/s after 1 h exposure at OCPFigure optionsDownload as PowerPoint slide