Atomic and Molecular Investigation of Corrosion for Prevention and Control

J. Keene and K. Bucholtz
Mercer University,
United States

Keywords: corrosion, spectroscopy, surface chemistry, advanced alternative coatings, nondestructive inspection

Summary:

Understanding corrosion and identifying materials and methods to combat corrosion enable solutions to extend lifespan of assets, reduce labor hours and costs to repair and remediate corrosion, and increase war readiness of the U.S. Armed Forces. Many current efforts in the DOD to combat corrosion are focused on a macro- or engineering-level of corrosion prevention and control that are often process-oriented and overlook the intricacies of materials selection and design for varied applications. Notably, there is a disconnect between field-level corrosion efforts and research efforts targeting fundamental understanding and development of corrosion solutions. We study corrosion at the atomic and molecular levels in order to gain fundamental understanding of corrosion mechanisms and processes at all stages of intervention in the corrosion process: prevention, control, and remediation. Areas of investigation include advanced alternative coating systems, additives for corrosion control, and spectroscopic detection of corrosion and preliminary coating failure. Targeted substrates and processes include additive manufactured alloys and their corrosion mechanisms, and passivation and repassivation behavior in compositionally complex alloys. We are working to bridge the gap between fundamental laboratory-based testing environments and field-level real-world applicability of nondestructive molecular- and atomic-level investigative elements with portable instrumentation to inform and develop corrosion solutions.