Corrosion behavior of Zr-based metallic glass coating on type 304L stainless steel by pulsed laser deposition method

The surface morphology and corrosion behavior of Zr-based amorphous metallic glass (MG) of Zr59Ti3Cu20Al10Ni8 alloy and MG coated type 304L stainless steel in different nitric acid media of 1 M, 6 M and 11.5 M HNO3 is reported. Zirconium based MG of Zr59Ti3Cu20Al10Ni8 alloy was successfully deposited on type 304L stainless steel using pulsed laser deposition technique. The SEM morphology revealed a scattered particles of “Donut” shaped features distributed in the amorphous matrix. The atomic force microscope measurement indicated the formation of dense metallic deposited layer of agglomerate of granular clusters with negligible pores or micro-crack in metallic glass coated sample. The results of the potentiodynamic polarization shows that the amorphous MG coated type 304L stainless steel exhibited marginally lower corrosion resistance than MG alloy which is attributed to the presence of corrosion-induced defects in the coated layer. This work reports suitability of using pulsed laser deposition for the preparation of thin film amorphous metallic coating to achieve improved corrosion resistance in nitric acid medium.

Research Highlights
► Zr59Ti3Cu20Al10Ni8 alloy was successfully deposited on 304L SS using PLD.
► The SEM morphology revealed “Donut” shaped features in the amorphous matrix.
► AFM topography of metallic coated layer shows agglomerate of granular clusters.
► The coated metallic glass (MG) shows marginally lower corrosion resistance.
► The existence of corrosion-induced defects in MG coated layer was observed.