Corrosion behavior and surface film characterization of TaNbHfZrTi high entropy alloy in aggressive nitric acid medium

Corrosion behavior of TaNbHfZrTi high-entropy alloy (HEA) was investigated in nitric and fluorinated nitric acid at ambient (27 °C) and boiling (120 °C) conditions. The alloy passivated spontaneously during potentiodynamic polarization in 11.5 M HNO3 at ambient condition. The corrosion rate was negligible in boiling 11.5 M HNO3, exposed for 240 h. Scanning electron microscopic (SEM) studies did not show any significant corrosion attack. The high corrosion resistance of TaNbHfZrTi HEA was attributed to its single phase bcc structure. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopic (XPS) analysis revealed that the protective passive film formed in boiling nitric acid was predominantly composed of Ta2O5, in contrast to the presence of ZrO2 and HfO2 in air-formed native film. Potentiodynamic polarization studies indicated a pseudo-passivation behavior of the HEA in 11.5 M HNO3 + 0.05 M NaF at ambient condition. In boiling fluorinated nitric acid, SEM images of TaNbHfZrTi HEA displayed a severely corroded morphology indicating the instability of the metal-oxides of the alloying elements. XPS investigations confirmed the presence of ZrF4, ZrOF2 and HfF4 along with un-protective oxides of Ta, Nb and Ti on the film, resulting in decreased corrosion resistance of TaNbHfZrTi HEA in fluorinated nitric acid.