Improvement of corrosion resistance of iron by ion beam mixing

The effects of ion beam mixing on corrosion resistance of iron under different conditions are studied. Anodic polarization tests show that the titanium-coated pure iron samples processed by nitrogen ion bombardments exhibit excellent self-passivation in H2SO4 solutions, indicating that the corrosion resistance of iron is considerably improved by nitrogen ion beam mixing. Argon ion beam mixing is found to have no effect on improving the corrosion resistance of titanium-coated pure iron. The XPS analysis and that of X-ray thin-film diffraction appendage show that nitrogen ion bombardments on the samples of titanium-coated iron form a uniform film of titanium on their surfaces, which explains the significant improvement of their corrosion resistance