Influence of rare earth element Ce and La addition on corrosion behavior of AZ91 magnesium alloy

✍ Scribed by W. Liu; F. Cao; L. Zhong; L. Zheng; B. Jia; Z. Zhang; J. Zhang

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 2009
• Tongue: German
• Weight: 756 KB
• Volume: 60
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0947-5117
• DOI: 10.1002/maco.200805179

✦ Synopsis

Abstract

Two types of AZ91 magnesium alloys containing rare earth element Ce or La were fabricated. Hydrogen evolution and electrochemical tests were carried out to evaluate the corrosion behavior of new AZRE (RE = Ce or La) and AZ91 alloys in 3.5% NaCl solutions (pH 6.50). Various corrosion rate tests indicated that addition of RE obviously enhanced corrosion resistance of AZ91 magnesium alloy. The optimal content of RE was 0.92% for Ce and 0.66% for La. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive spectrometer (EDS), and low‐angle X‐ray diffraction (XRD) were used to characterize the effect of RE addition on microstructure and corrosion product film of AZ91 magnesium alloy. The refined β phase and formation of γ phase in AZRE alloy were observed by SEM, which resulted in the improvement of corrosion resistance due to the depression of microgalvanic couples. Moreover, the enhanced protective effectiveness of corrosion products was another reason for the improved corrosion resistance.