The effect of metallic oxide deposition on the electrochemical behaviour of Al-Zn-Mg-Sn alloy in natural tropical seawater

Abstract

The potential of aluminium alloys as anode materials in cathodic protection system has been explored and a significant improvement has been achieved. However, for marine application, it is quite difficult to maintain continuous activation process due to passivation behavior of aluminum alloys. Therefore, to choose the best activation mechanism for aluminium alloy in marine environment, it has to be considered from various points such as alloy composition and surface treatment. This paper report the effect of metallic ruthenium oxide (RuO2) deposition on the surface of as-cast Al-Zn-Mg-Sn alloy and to study the effect of its presence on the electrochemical behavior using direct current (DC) electrochemical polarization and current capacity measurement. The morphology and topography of corroded surface were studied by the aid of scanning electron microscope (SEM) and confocal laser scanning microscope (CLSM) respectively. Results from this study showed that the presence of intermetallic compound (Mg2Sn) and also mixed metal oxide compound (Al2O3 and RuO2) on the alloy surface has been very useful in improving electrochemical reaction and charge transfer activities in chloride containing solution. This study also showed that RuO2 catalytic coating applied on the surface of Al-Zn-Mg-Sn alloy has slightly increased the corrosion current density compared to Al-Zn-Mg-Sn without RuO2. The corrosion morphology and topography of corroded surface of Al-Zn-Mg-Sn alloy deposited with RuO2 was found more uniform corrosion attack with the formation of porous and fibrous mud-like crack on outer layer. Based on surface morphology and 3D topographic studies, these features were believed to facilitate ionic species adsorption and diffusion through corrosion product layer at solution-alloy interface. Deposited RuO2 films also was found to increase of current efficiency by more than 10%.