Abstract
Dezincification of α-brass, which is one of the most prominent cases of selective corrosion, was investigated by the electron diffraction method. To explain the process of dezincification, two hypotheses were considered, one of which could very likely explain our experimental results. In the early stage of dezincification, sharp diffraction rings from copper began to appear together with those from the initial specimens of α-brass. With progress of dezincification, the intensities of the copper diffraction rings increased gradually and those of the α-brass decreased. The dezincified α-brass layer composed of pure copper had a textural property similar to that of the initial specimen, but not strictly the same. It is concluded that the process of dezincification is the result of dissolution of α-brass into the corrosive solutions followed by re-deposition of copper on the specimen surfaces.
