Corrosion behavior of boride layers evaluated by the EIS technique

The corrosion behavior of boride layers at the AISI 304 steel surface is evaluated in the present study. Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) technique was used for the evaluation of the polarization resistance at the steel surface, with the aid of AUTOLAB potentiostat. Samples were treated with boron paste thickness of 4 and 5 mm, in the range of temperatures 1123 ≤ T ≤ 1273 K and exposed time of 4 and 6 h. The electrochemical technique employed 10 mV AC with a frequency scan range from 8 kHz to 3 mHz in deaerated 0.1 M NaCl solution. Nyquist diagrams show that the highest values of corrosion resistance are present in the samples borided at the temperature of 1273 K, with treatment time of 4 h and 4 mm of boron paste thickness. The values of corrosion resistance on borided steels are compared with the porosity exhibited in the layers.