Corrosion usually takes place and degrades material surfaces based on environmental chemistry. There are several popular ways of decreasing corrosion rates to improve the lifetime of materials and devices. As recently determined, some methods may incorporate nanostructured materials processing approaches. These include surface treatment methods, nanocomposite thin film coatings, top layer coatings and thermal barrier coatings. Test results show that the corrosion performance of materials is significantly improved as compared to materials processed using conventional methods. It’s lucky for builders that steel and concrete have such an affinity for each other. Concrete contains large amounts of calcium and a small percentage of sodium and potassium ions that maintain a high alkalinity level. Steel exposed to concrete’s high alkalinity forms a thin passive film on its surface that resists corrosion. It’s the failure of that film that leads to corrosion and deterioration in bridges, buildings, platforms, tunnels and concrete pipes, yet little is understood about what actually happens when the film is disrupted. This editorial aims to find out what’s happening when the film breaks down so that methods can be found to preserve and strengthen it. It’s a nano-scale layer (a few nano-meters thickness) made up primarily of iron hydroxides. Read more..

• Share this page
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
•