Development of Corrosion Resistant and Sustainable Alloys accelerated by In-situ Surface Characterisation
The Swedish Research Council reached a decision on November 7, 2022 on project grants and starting grants within Natural and Engineering Sciences. The Department of Physics and Astronomy is granted 27 430 000 SEK for the period 2023-2026 for in total six project grants and one starting grant. The projects will begin during 2023.
Read more about the Swedish Research Council's grants within Natural and Engineering Sciences 2022
Project Description
Project title: Development of Corrosion Resistant and Sustainable Alloys accelerated by In-situ Surface Characterisation
Main applicant: Rebecka Lindblad, Division of X-ray Photon Science
Grant amount: SEK 4 000 000 for the period 2023-2026
Corrosion is a common process during which a material degrades. The yearly global cost due to corrosion is estimated to 2.5 trillion USD. This, together with clear environmental benefits, motivates a search for corrosion resistant materials. Many elements that are stable in corrosive environments are however listed as “critical elements” due to non-abundancy or non-sustainable production.
Great corrosion resistance have been found in multicomponent alloys, but fundamental details related to this are still unknown due to the challenge to study the corrosion process with advanced characterization techniques in realistic conditions. Thanks to recent advancements in ambient pressure x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (AP-XPS), this situation is changing. In this project AP-XPS will be used to follow corrosion at an atomic level while it is taking place in an aqueous environment.
The goal is to enhance the corrosion resistance of AlCrMoTaTi while replacing the critical elements Ta and Ti with more sustainable elements. This will be facilitated by the fundamental understanding provided by AP-XPS. The project combines new sustainable materials, advanced electrochemistry and state-of-the-art spectroscopy. The outcome contributes to a sustainable future with less corrosion losses and is also of interest within the fields of material science and electrochemistry. The work will be performed by the PI and a PhD student and will benefit from the expertise of the PI and collaborators.