Pitting corrosion of Cu–Zr metallic glasses in hydrochloric acid solutions

The corrosion behavior of CuxZr100−x (x = 40, 50 and 60 at.%) metallic glasses prepared by rapid quenching were investigated by means of electrochemical polarization measurements and immersion tests in 0.01 and 0.1 mol/L HCl solutions, respectively. The influence of the alloy composition on morphological and compositional characteristics of pit regions was discussed in detail. All the investigated Cu–Zr metallic glasses are susceptible to pitting corrosion due to the adsorption of the Cl− ions. The pit morphology is strongly dependent on the Cu concentration of the alloy. A more severe corrosion on the wheel sides compared with the air sides demonstrates that the surface characteristics play an important role in influencing the corrosion resistance of the glassy alloys.