Effect of carbonate in slightly alkaline medium on the corrosion of maraging steel

This study was carried out to ascertain the behavior of maraging steel identified as AMS. 65-12 and used in the tanks of the French plant for the reprocessing of radioactive water. This water has a pH of 9 and contains carbonate ions. The rest or corrosion potentials can be in the transpassive or active region due to radiolytic species. Therefore, the behavior of maraging steel was studied in these two regions. In the neighborhood of the active-passive transition potentials, maraging steel is corroded by means of intermediates. The corrosion potential does not change with carbonate at a constant pH. With carbonate and a low scan rate, the breakdown transpassive potentials are displaced towards more positive potentials and the passive potential region is broader, while at a high scan rate these potentials are displaced towards more negative values. After the beginning of the reverse scan, the current is again positive. These suggest that the corrosion kinetics are not the same. The diffusion coefficient of species inside the oxide layer was determined. ((orig.))