Modification of 316L Steel Surface in Ozone Atmosphere

Abstract

Abstract The study reported in this paper was undertaken to assess whether certain ecologically-disastrous surface treatments, such as chemical and electrochemical treatment could be replaced with ozonation. The proposed technology is both ecologically-sound and relatively inexpensive. The research works were conducted on 316L steel substrates and involved photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The band positions on the review spectrum provide the basis for the qualitative identification of the atoms forming the surface layer, whereas their intensity – data for the calculation of the total concentration of these atoms in the analysed layer. High resolution spectra are used to determine the type of chemical bonds – based on the characteristic numbers of chemical shift. The results of tests on the state of surface layer energy of 316L steel substrate following ozone treatment are also presented. The conducted tests and the analysis of the obtained results indicate that ozone treatment effectively removes atmospheric carbon contaminants off the specimen surface. The test results show a decrease in atmospheric carbon on samples after ozone treatment compared to untreated samples. Moreover, results show an increase in the value of the free surface energy in specimens subjected to ozone treatment.