Barnacle cement: An etchant for stainless steel 316L?

Colloids and Surfaces. B, Biointerfaces
R SangeethaR Venkatesan

Abstract

Localized corrosion of stainless steel beneath the barnacle-base is an unsolved issue for the marine industry. In this work, we clearly bring out for the first time the role of the barnacle cement in acting as an etchant, preferentially etching the grain boundaries, and initiating the corrosion process in stainless steel 316L. The investigations include structural characterization of the cement and corroded region, and also chemical characterization of the corrosion products generated beneath the barnacle-base. Structural characterization studies using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) reveals the morphological changes in the cement structure across the interface of the base-plate and the substrate, modification of the steel surface by the cement and the corrosion pattern beneath the barnacle-base. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) of the corrosion products show that they are composed of mainly oxides of iron thereby implying that the corrosion is aerobic in nature. A model for the etching and corrosion mechanism is proposed based on our observations.

References

Jan 31, 2009·Biofouling·Ruby May A SullanGilbert C Walker

❮ Previous
Next ❯

Citations

Apr 25, 2012·Annual Review of Analytical Chemistry·Daniel E Barlow, Kathryn J Wahl
Feb 26, 2013·Colloids and Surfaces. B, Biointerfaces·L VedaprakashA Shanmugam

❮ Previous
Next ❯

Related Concepts

Related Feeds

Biofilm & Infectious Disease

Biofilm formation is a key virulence factor for a wide range of microorganisms that cause chronic infections.Here is the latest research on biofilm and infectious diseases.