Changes in the electrochemical properties of air-formed oxide film-covered AZ31 Mg alloy in aqueous solutions containing various anions

This research was conducted to investigate the electrochemical properties of the thin air-formed oxide film-covered AZ31 Mg alloy. In this work, native air-formed oxide films on AZ31 Mg alloy samples were prepared by knife-abrading method and the changes in the electrochemical properties of the air-formed oxide film were investigated in seven different electrolytes containing the following anions $Cl^-$, $F^-$, $SO{_4}^{2-}$, $NO_3{^-}$, $CH_3COO^-$, $CO{_3}^{2-}$ and $PO{_4}^{3-}$. It was observed from open circuit potential (OCP) transients that the potential initially decreased before gradually increasing again in the solutions containing only $CO{_3}^{2-}$ or $PO{_4}^{3-}$ ions, indicating the dissolution or transformation of the native air-formed oxide film into new more protective surface films. The Nyquist plots obtained from electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) showed that there was growth of new surface films with immersion time on the air-formed oxide film-covered specimens in all the electrolytes; the least resistive surface films were formed in fluoride and sulphate baths whereas the most protective film was formed in phosphate bath. The potentiodynamic polarization curves illustrated that passive behaviour of AZ31 Mg alloy under anodic polarization appears only in $CO{_3}^{2-}$ or $PO{_4}^{3-}$ ions containing solutions and at more than $-0.4V_{Ag/AgCl}$ in $F^-$ ion containing solution.