Abstract
Surface engineering of magnesium alloys requires adequate strategies, processes and materials permitting corrosion protection. Liquid formulations containing corrosion inhibitors often are to be optimized according to the demands of the respective substrate and following the service conditions during its application. As an interdisciplinary approach, a combination of several techniques for instantly monitoring or elaborately analyzing the surface state of magnesium was accomplished in order to characterize the performance of new adsorbing sustainable amphiphilic polymers which recently were developed to facilitate a multi-metal corrosion protection approach. The application of established techniques like Contact Angle measurements and X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy investigations was supplemented by introducing related and yet faster online-capable and larger-scale techniques like Aerosol Wetting Test and Optically Stimulated Electron Emission. Moreover, an inexpensive setup was configured for scaling the inset and the extent of degradation processes which occur at local electrochemical circuits and lead to hydrogen bubble formation. Using these analytical tools, changes of the surface state of emeried AM50 samples were investigated. Even in contact with water, being a moderate corrosive medium, the online techniques facilitated detecting surface degradation of the unprotected magnesium alloy within some seconds. In contrast, following contact with a 1 weight% formulation of a polymeric corrosion inhibitor, surface monitoring indicated a delay of the onset of degradation processes by approximately two orders of magnitude in time. Mainly based on the spectroscopic investigations, the corrosion inhibiting effects of the investigated polymer are attributed to the adsorption of a primary polymer layer with a thickness of a few nanometers which occurs within some seconds. Immersion of magnesium for several hours brings up a protective film with around ten nanometers thickness.
Highlights
Magnesium alloys have been used in transport and especially automotive industries due to their mechanical properties combining light weight and high specific strength
The results obtained when investigating the changes of AM50 surfaces in contact with water or with an aqueous G50 wb formulation containing a polymeric corrosion inhibitor (p.c.i.) will be reported
Investigations based on Dissipative Particle Dynamics (DPD) simulations indicate that the attachment of the first layer of G50 type p.c.i. polymers to hydrophilic surfaces formed by reaction layers on metal samples occurs via the polar groups of the p.c.i. and the surface
Summary
Magnesium alloys have been used in transport and especially automotive industries due to their mechanical properties combining light weight and high specific strength. Its alloys are attractive battery electrodes, sacrifice anodes, and hydrogen storage materials. When exposed to ambient atmosphere and wet environments, unprotected magnesium is too reactive and susceptible to corrosion [1]. Applications and devices profiting from the structural properties of magnesium alloys must be reliable [2]. In this way, corrosion protection is a relevant aspect to be considered
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