Electrochemical and surface characteristics of sputter-deposited amorphous Mn–Zr–Cr alloys in a 1 M H2SO4 solution

Abstract

The effect of alloying zirconium and chromium on the electrochemical behavior of Mn–Zr–Cr alloys in H₂SO₄ solutions was investigated. The alloy surface was analyzed by XPS. The corrosion rates of the ternary Mn–Zr–Cr alloys are lower than those of the binary alloys containing the same amount of manganese and decrease on increasing the chromium content. The effect of alloying Cr and Zr with Mn is based on the synergistic interaction between their cations in the oxy-hydroxide passive films formed under open circuit conditions. The passivity enhancement is due to chromium enrichment in the surface film and the underlying alloy surface.