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