The electrochemistry of chromium, chromium-boron and chromium-phosphorus alloys

It is fairly well established that chromium-metalloid interactions represent the key to understanding the remarkable corrosion behavior of TM-Cr-M glasses; (Fe, Ni, Co,...)-Cr-(P, Si, C, S). The character and kinetics of passive film growth on the glasses are being studied ni order to assess the role of the film former, chromium, and the metalloids in the passivation process. A series of thin film microcrystalline chromium, Cr-B and Cr-P binary alloys have been fabricated by physical vapor deposition techniques. Vacuum melted conventionally processed chromium has also been studied. Examination of these materials in lM H/sub 2/SO/sub 4/ and lM HCl by voltammetry, potentiostatic and impedance techniques yields the following conclusion: 1. Pure chromium with a grain size varying from < 400 A to 0.5 mm exhibits no well defined differences in electrochemical behavior in lM H/sub 2/SO/sub 4/. 2. The tremendous corrosion resistance of Cr-B alloys has been confirmed. 3. The beneficial effects observed for boron alloyed with chromium may be considered surprising in view of the neutral/negative influence of alloying boron with iron, i.e. Fe/sub 80/B/sub 20/. 4. The interaction of the electrochemistry of the metalloid constituent with that of the transition base element determines the corrosion behavior. 5. Preliminary work with Cr-P alloys indicates that certain compositions exhibit promising properties - certain films were found to be intact after two days of immersion in concentrated HCl. Further work is in progress