LAUSR

Abstract The corrosion behavior of Zr55Cu30Ni5Al10 amorphous alloy after N+ ion implantation has been investigated in 1.0 M HNO3 medium. Specimens were implanted at various fluences such as 1 × 1016, 5 × 1016 and 1 × 1017 ions/cm2 using 100 keV N+ ion beam. Grazing incidence X-ray diffraction (GIXRD) on the N+ ion implanted samples showed the formation of ZrN crystalline phases on the surface of implanted samples along with the presence of ZrO2 and Al2O3 at higher implantation fluences. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) results confirmed the presence of these crystalline phases after N+ ion implantation. Potentiodynamic polarization results revealed that the nitrogen ion implanted Zr55Cu30Ni5Al10 amorphous alloy exhibits better corrosion resistance in 1.0 M HNO3 medium at a fluence of 1 × 1016 ions/cm2. The field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) and XPS measurements were carried out to further elucidate the changes in the surface of the treated samples.