Corrosion Behavior of Al2O3 Ceramics in the Acid and Alkaline Solutions

Abstract

Al2O3 materials were used in a very wide range due to its good mechanical properties and relative low manufacture cost. The corrosion resistance of Al2O3 materials in acid, alkaline and sea water solutions gained more and more attention because many application situations are severe and the working life is shorten due to the corrosion. In this paper, the corrosion behavior of Al2O3 based materials in acid and alkaline solutions was studied and effect of corrosion time on the corrosion behavior of Al2O3 materials was investigated. The microstructure of as prepared Al2O3 materials was characterized by SEM. Possible corrosion process and mechanism was discussed in details. The results reveal that the as prepared Al2O3 materials show better corrosion resistance in alkaline solution than in acid solutions. In both acid and alkaline conditions, the corrosion mainly occurs in the grain boundary. Mass loss increased with increasing corrosion time, while the corrosion rate was decreased.