Search

This work presents a multiscale photoelectrochemical characterization of oxide layers, and aims mainly at introducing the mesoscopic scale (ca 30 μm). For the first time, photocurrent energy spectra could be recorded on individual ferritic and austenitic grains of a unique 2205 duplex stainless steel sample oxidized for 5 minutes at 650°C under 20% water vapour in nitrogen. These results allowed us to explain contrasting issues in the photoelectrochemical images obtained from the oxidized sample. Moreover, the bandgap energies obtained by fitting these individual mesoscopic photocurrent energy spectra with a novel approach developed in our laboratory, showed that all oxide scales were constituted of Fe2O3 and Cr2O3 and of an Fe2-xCrxO3 solid solutions, but that the x-value of the latter was different depending on the metallurgic phase of the oxidized substrate. The latter results were shown to be in agreement with those of additional Raman analyses of the oxidized austenitic and ferritic grains. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Room temperature photoelectrochemistry was used to characterise oxide phases grown during the initial stages of oxidation of the ferritic stainless steel AISI441 at 650°C and 850°C in synthetic air or in water vapour. Grazing incidence X-ray diffraction and Raman spectroscopy were additionally used to discuss PEC results. Haematite Fe2O3 (∼2.0eV), chromia Cr2O3 (3.0 and 3.5eV) and their mutual solid solution (∼ 2.5eV) were detected by their respective bandgap values determined from photocurrent vs. energy curves. The Cr/Fe ratio of the films increased with time/temperature and was higher in air-grown than in H2O-grown oxides. Observation of photocurrent vs. potential curves indicated that chromia was N-type in all specimens, resulting from thermodynamic equilibrium with the metallic substrate and not with the gas phase. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]