Comparative Corrosion Behavior of Carbon Steel and High Chromium Steel Nanoparticles

The electrochemical activity of carbon steel and high chromium steel nanoparticle (HCS) in 0.1 M HCl as well as in 0.1 M NaCl was studied using the atomic force microscopy (AFM) and Kelvin probe force microscopy (KFM). The corrosion processes occurring at the nanoparticles lead to decrease in the size and the surface potential of carbon steel nanoparticles with increase in time. The change in the shape and size of the nanoparticles in AFM and KFM mapping showed that the corrosion occurred due to the oxidation reaction at the anode. However, the corrosion at carbon steel surface occurred more severely than high chromium steel nanoparticle in both the medium. The decrease of the surface potential and the size of carbon steel nanoparticle were more than the high chromium steel nanoparticle. This was because of the higher corrosion resistance of high chromium steel nanoparticle. The formation of protective film on the high chromium steel nanoparticle surface suppresses the electrochemical activity. It was proved that high chromium steel nanoparticle showed better corrosion protection performance than carbon steel nanoparticle both in 0.1 M HCl and 0.1 M NaCl.

Keywords: AFM, KFM, Nanoparticles, Corrosion, Carbon steel, Chromium steel.