Feasibility study of alloy Al80Mg20% weight, heat-treated as energy material

Abstract

The purpose of this research is to evaluate the effect of the aging heat treatment and the electrochemical behavior of the alloy (Al80Mg20% weight), for energy purposes through corrosion processes. Hydrogen generation sources currently have a high cost, and their large-scale implementation has been of great interest in research. Aluminum and its alloys have great potential as energetic materials due to their low cost, performance, and availability. The Aluminum-Magnesium alloy Al80Mg20% weight was obtained by casting and subsequently subjected to an aging heat treatment that favored microstructural heterogeneity and the precipitation of the β intermetallic phase (Al3Mg2). This Al80Mg20% weight alloy was characterized by optical microscopy, scanning electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction. The electrochemical behavior of the Al80Mg20% weight alloy was also characterized by Open Circuit Potential (PCA), Potentiodynamic Polarization Curves (CPP) and Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy (EIE). The results indicated a change in the microstructural morphology of the polygonal type and the presence of cracks at the grain boundaries, as well as the presence of the α Al (Mg) phase and a β (Al3Mg2) intermetallic secondary phase, with a higher precipitation in the grain boundaries, both with a cubic crystallographic system. Through the PCA, corrosion current density (Icorr), anodic and cathodic Tafel slopes (β and α). They showed that both samples are susceptible to embrittlement corrosion, with the rate of corrosion being more accentuated in the sample after Al80Mg20-6TT350°C.