LAUSR

AbstractThe corrosion behavior of 2101 duplex and 301 austenitic stainless steel in the presence of sulfate (SO42−) anion concentrations was investigated through polarization techniques, weight loss and optical microscopy analysis. The corrosion rates of the steels were comparable after 3M H2SO4. Results confirm that the duplex steel displayed a higher resistance to pitting corrosion than the austenitic steel. Experimental observation shows that its pitting potential depends on the concentration of the SO42− ions in the acid solution due to adsorption of anions at the metal-film interface. The duplex steel underwent stable pitting at relatively higher potentials and significantly higher corrosion current than the austenitic steel. The duplex steel exhibited lower corrosion potential values thus less likely to polarize in the acid solution. Solution concentration had a limited influence on the polarization behavior of the austenitic steel and hence its reaction to SO42− ion penetration from analysis of the pitting potentials and observation of its narrower polarization scans compared to the duplex steel which showed wide scatter over the potential domain with changes in concentration.