Influence of electropolishing current densities on sulfur generation at niobium surface

We report the effect of different current densities on sulfur generation at Nb surface in the electropolishing (EP) with aged electrolyte. In this regard, we conducted a series of electropolishing (EP) experiments in aged EP electrolyte with high (≈50 mA/cm2) and low (≈30 mA/cm2) current densities on Nb surfaces. The experiments were carried out both for laboratory coupons and a real Nb single cell cavity with six witness samples located at three typical positions (equator, iris and beam pipe). Sample's surfaces were investigated by XPS (X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy), SEM (scanning electron microscope) and EDX (energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy). The surface analysis showed that the EP with a high current density produced a huge amount of sulfate/sulfite particles at Nb surface whereas the EP with a low current density was very helpful to mitigate sulfate/sulfite at Nb surface in both the experiments.