Role of Te-RE alloying on the passive film and pitting corrosion behavior of 316L stainless steel

This work reports the mechanism of corrosion resistance enhancement of 316 L stainless steel after Te-RE alloying. The individual MnS inclusions are replaced by composite inclusions, resulting in a reduced risk of pitting corrosion. The decrease of inclusion amount and Volta potential difference between inclusion and matrix induced by the addition of Te/La promoted the stability of the inclusions and lessened the active sites for pitting corrosion. TeO₂ formed in the passive film with Te treatment could be easily reduced by Cr and Mo, and resulting in a significant increasing of MoO₂ and Cr₂O₃ content in the passive film. This enhanced the stability of the passive film. Te and RE exhibited a synergistic effect on the increase of Cr and Mo in the passive film, resulting in a further improvement of the passive film. However, RE could not exist in the passive film stably due to its poor thermodynamic stability of the rare earth oxides, and only acted as a bridge for the formation of Cr and Mo oxides.