Insight into Structural Changes and Electrochemical Properties of Spark Plasma Sintered Nanostructured Ferritic and Austenitic Stainless Steels

oleh: Junaid Ahmed, Ihsan-ul-Haq Toor, Mohamed A. Hussein, Nasser Al-Aqeeli, Mirza M. A. Baig

Format: Article
Diterbitkan: MDPI AG 2022-04-01

Deskripsi

Nanostructured ferritic (Fe<sub>(82−x)</sub>-Cr<sub>18</sub>-Si<sub>x</sub>, x = 0–3 wt %) and austenitic (Fe<sub>(73−x)</sub>-Cr<sub>18</sub>-Ni<sub>9</sub>-Six, x = 0–3 wt %) stainless steel (SS) alloys were developed by mechanical alloying (MA) and spark plasma sintering (SPS). The unit cell parameter estimated from X-ray diffraction spectra exhibited a decreasing trend with an increase in wt % of Si content in both alloy systems. The particle size of powders estimated using bright field transmission electron microscopy images for ferritic (3 wt % Si) and austenitic (3 wt % Si) SS powders was found to be 65 ± 5 nm and 18 ± 3 nm, respectively. In case of the ferritic system, 3 wt % Si exhibited the highest densification (~98%) and micro-hardness of about 350.6 ± 11.2 HV, respectively. Similarly, for the austenitic system (3 wt % Si), maximum densification and micro-hardness values were about 99% and 476.6 ± 15.2 HV, respectively. Comparative analysis of potentiodynamic polarization, linear polarization, and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy results indicates an increase in electrochemical performance of both alloy systems as the wt % Si was increased. The increase in electrochemical performance is directly related to the increase in densification owing to Si addition in these alloys.