327-2205-00L Surfaces, Interfaces and their Applications II
| Semester | Spring Semester 2021 |
| Lecturers | P. Schmutz |
| Periodicity | yearly recurring course |
| Language of instruction | English |
| Abstract | Introduction to fundamental aspects of degradation and functionalizing induced on materials by (electro)chemical and mechanical interactions. Surface physico-chemical processes on metal/alloys exposed to aggressive environments will be described. The different corrosion mechanisms and protection strategies will be presented in combination with a description their specific characterization methods. |
| Learning objective | The students should understand the fundamental mechanisms responsible for the most important corrosion phenomena affecting "classical" industrial relevant metals/alloys and they should know the limitation in the use of these "standard" materials in aggressive environments. They should also be able to transfer the acquired knowledge about corrosion mechanisms directly in the developments phase of new materials/coatings in order to minimize the corrosive failure risks and increase the sustainability of new industrial products. They finally should know how to approach a corrosion problem/failure and be able to propose the right characterization technique/methodology to investigate each specific corrosion problems. |
| Content | The most important types of corrosion mechanisms will be presented and discussed during the different lectures. For each specific corrosion phenomenon, the most relevant experimental characterization methods will also be introduced directly after the corrosion part. This combination allows the student to couple theoretical physico-chemical concepts with practical characterisation methodologies used in corrosion research. Following topics will be presented (mechanism/method used): - Thermodynamics related to corrosion processes prediction - Corrosion reaction kinetics / DC electrochemical methods - Passivation and passive film properties / XPS (X-Ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy) and EQCM (Electro-chemical Quartz Crystal Microgravimetry) - Uniform corrosion/Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy (EIS)/Magnesium biocorrosion - Galvanic corrosion/AFM-SKPFM (Scanning Kelvin Probe Force Microscopy) - Localized corrosion (pitting)/ Microcapillary cell technique - Photoelectrochemistry and Crevice corrosion with description of specific electrochemical setups and medical implant problems - Intergranular corrosion and mathematical modelling concepts / Microtomography - Stress corrosion cracking (SCC) / corrosion-fatigue - Selected examples of more "exotic" corrosion mechanisms (Si, Ag, Ta, a.s.o), corrosion protection and surface functionalizing |
| Lecture notes | A script in English covering the lecture content is available online on the ETHZ LSST (Laboratory for Surface Science and Technology) website only to the student registering for the lecture. Hardcopies of the script will be distributed during the lecture. |
| Literature | The two following books cover pretty well the lecture content and offer additional and more detailed description of the phenomena/methods presented in the lecture script: - Corrosion mechanism: D. Landolt, "Corrosion and Surface Chemistry of Metals" EPFL Press (Distributed by CRC, Taylor and Francis Group) (2007) - Characterization methods: P. Marcus, "Analytical Methods in Corrosion Science and Engineering", CRC, Taylor and Francis Group (2006) |
| Prerequisites / Notice | Some background in the following fields should already be acquired by the student in order to optimally benefit from the lecture: Chemistry: - General undergraduate chemistry (inorganic chemistry) including basic chemical kinetics and thermodynamics - Electrochemical characterization Physics: - General undergraduate physics - Surface analysis Materials Science: - Metallurgy (in particular of Steel and Al Alloy) |