Passive film properties and corrosion behavior of Ni-Nb and Ni-Nb-Ta amorphous ribbons in nitric acid and fluorinated nitric acid environments

Potentiodynamic polarization and electrochemical impedance studies revealed the passivation ability and corrosion resistance of Ni60Nb40 and Ni60Nb30Ta10 amorphous ribbons in 11.5 M HNO3 and 11.5 M HNO3 + 0.05 M NaF media at room temperature. Mott-Schottky analysis indicated the formation of n-type semiconducting passive film on these amorphous ribbon samples. Electrochemical parameters such as corrosion current density, passivation current density and donor density confirmed the passive film property of Ni60Nb30Ta10 amorphous ribbon to be superior to that of Ni60Nb40 amorphous ribbon. Weight loss was insignificant in Ni60Nb30Ta10 ribbon exposed to boiling 11.5 M HNO3 for 240 h. XPS analysis revealed that the origin of passivity of Ni60Nb40 and Ni60Nb30Ta10 amorphous ribbons in boiling 11.5 M HNO3 was due to the formation of a relatively thick passive film of ≈3 nm enriched with Nb2O5 and a thin passive film of ≈1.5 nm enriched with both Nb2O5 and Ta2O5 on the respective ribbon's surface. In boiling fluorinated nitric acid, Ni60Nb40 ribbon underwent severe dissolution owing to the instability of Nb-oxide passive film and the oxide/metal interface.