2.28 Anti-Corrosive Materials

Abstract

The material selection for construction of thermal energy storage and energy harvesting devices is critical for sustainable and efficient operation with minimum maintenance and replacement costs. Recent changes in climate results in storms and extended distribution of green gasses around the globe. These gases can cause acid rain and other environmental effects while influencing the quality of the surfaces of the energy storage and energy harvesting devices. In this case, chemically active fluid gradually collected on the surfaces gives rise corrosion and gradually erosion of the surfaces. Therefore, corrosion prevention of such surfaces becomes vital for sustainable and cost effective operation. On the other hand, metallic and non-metallic materials are widely used in the construction of the energy harvesting and thermal energy storage devices. The corrosion prevention of these materials in open environment requires surface treatment toward generating a passive layer while preventing surfaces from the chemical attacks. Consequently, in this chapter, the necessity of corrosion prevention of surfaces is introduced and some fundamentals of corrosion reactions and measurement techniques are presented. Generation of passive layer on such material surfaces is incorporated in the later sections. The electrochemical response and corrosion rates of treated surfaces in controlled environment is brought attention for various selective materials including alumina, titanium and copper alloys, aluminum–silicon composite, high-strength low alloy steel, and Hastelloy alloy. The findings of electrochemical tests are discussed in detail in the relevant sections. The future research direction is also included at the end of this chapter.