The hydroxylation of passive oxide films on X-70 steel by dissolved hydrogen studied by nuclear reaction analysis, Auger electron spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and secondary ion mass spectroscopy

Dissolved hydrogen is known to reduce the corrosion resistance of a passive oxide film on iron and its alloys, especially towards pitting corrosion. Electrochemical techniques have been used to show that the passive films are changed by dissolved hydrogen in an alloy substrate, but direct confirmation of the chemical and compositional profiles and changes has been missing. In this paper we report the direct profiling and compositional analysis of the 4 nm passive film on X-70 steel by Auger electron spectroscopy (AES), secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and nuclear reaction analysis (NRA) while hydrogen (deuterium) is charged into the alloy samples from the reverse, unpassivated side. The only route for D to the passive film is therefore by dissolution and diffusion. We show that the original duplex structure of the passive film is converted to a more continuous film containing hydroxyl groups, by reaction with the dissolved hydrogen. This conversion of the oxide ions to hydroxyl groups can lead to more rapid reaction and replacement with (e.g.) Cl−, which is known to enhance pitting. These results are entirely consistent with previous electrochemical studies and provide the first direct confirmation of models on the formation and role of hydroxyl groups derived from these earlier studies.