Electrochemical studies of stainless steel implanted with nitrogen and oxygen by plasma immersion ion implantation

Plasma Immersion Ion Implantation (PIII) of stainless steel with nitrogen at temperatures lower than 400 °C has been reported to increase the hardness of the material by several times. However, expectations that the corrosion resistance will remain unaffected after implantation were not found to be so. In the present study the influence of post-oxygen implantation on the corrosion resistance of nitrogen implanted stainless steel is presented. Stainless steel samples were subjected to oxygen, nitrogen and post-oxygen ion implantation at different temperatures. GIXRD and microRaman studies of the implanted samples showed that oxygen implantation leads to the formation of an oxide layer consisting of corundum and spinel structures. The corrosion properties of the implanted samples were studied by potentiodynamic polarization and electrochemical impedance techniques in 3.5% NaCl solution. After nitrogen implantation the corrosion current increased and the corrosion potential shifted to the less noble side to − 0.486 V as compared to − 0.284 V for the substrate. Oxygen implantation at 400 °C shifted the corrosion potential to the nobler side to − 0.2 V with decrease of corrosion current. For post-oxygen ion implantation at temperatures lower than 400 °C, the corrosion current was higher than the substrate and the corrosion potential was also on the less noble side. However, post-oxygen ion implantation at 400 °C after nitrogen ion implantation resulted in improved corrosion resistance as the corrosion potential shifted to nobler side and the corrosion current was lower than that of substrate.