Fundamentals and Recent Developments in Understanding of Metal Corrosion

Abstract

The fundamentals for understanding metal corrosion in aqueous solutions are first explained in terms of thermodynamics and kinetics of electrochemical corrosion reactions, illustrating the validity of a local cell model for the uniform corrosion behavior of iron and stainless steels. Then, the passivation process of stainless steels and the important properties of their passive films are described. Finally, recent studies on the pit initiation mechanism at sulfide inclusions of stainless steels are introduced, which provides a valuable information to develop a next-generation green stainless steel.