Novel surface treatment for 316L stainless steel using magnetisation technology

Abstract

A novel surface treatment for 316L SS by using magnetisation was studied, and the effects on the electrochemical behaviour and semiconductor properties were measured by potentiodynamic polarisation, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) and Mott–Schottky analysis in 3·5 wt-% NaCl solution. The results showed that the open circuit potential, corrosion potential E_corr and charge transfer resistance R_t of the specimen markedly increased after the magnetisation treatment, while the passive current I_p decreased. Mott–Schottky analysis indicated that the donor densities of the passive films on the treated and untreated specimen are 3·83×10²⁷ and 5·09×10²⁷ m⁻³ respectively. In addition, the flat band potential of the treated specimen is more negative than that of the untreated specimen. These parameters (N_d and E_fb) are closely related to the effects of magnetisation treatment on the anodic dissolution process of 316L SS.

Keywords:

• Corrosion
• Magnetisation
• Electrochemical
• Stainless steel

The authors acknowledge the support of China National Natural Science Foundation (grant no. 51271023).