The Challenge

We live in a metal-based civilization.

From steel in buildings and automobiles, to aluminum alloys in aircrafts, to copper in water pipes and electrical connectors, metals are all around us.

Corrosion – the degradation of materials, including metals, concrete and polymers – costs the global economy 3-5% of the global Gross Domestic Product (GDP) annually.

Corrosion negatively affects virtually every industry (resources sectors, oil and gas, etc.), but beyond its financial impact, corrosion also negatively affects people’s health, safety, and the environment.

Argonne’s Innovation

Materials scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Argonne National Laboratory have developed the ElectroCorrosion Toolkit™ to measure material corrosion performance under actual service conditions – providing critical insights in the fight against corrosion.

The Toolkit leverages Argonne’s expertise in:

• Formulating nuclear reactor, waste, and container materials
• Measuring corrosion of steel-based and other alloys
• Assessing materials performance in harsh environments
• Modeling long-term performance

The ElectroCorrosion Toolkit™ is a collection of electrochemical methods, microscopy, and solution analyses:

• Used to measure and model material corrosion performance
• Testing represents service conditions and evolution of material surface properties pertinent to long-term performance
• Methods sensitive to extremely low corrosion rates

Different combinations of methods can be used to address a wide range of commercial, industrial, medical, defense, civil, nuclear and other applications.

Standard Corrosion Methods	Argonne ElectroCorrosion Toolkit™
Single type corrosion test for all cases	System-specific corrosion testing
Qualitative corrosion rates or subject to variation	Quantified corrosion rates and environmental dependencies
Inaccurate service life prediction = unexpected failure	Reliable service life predictions
Corrosion performance under one irrelevant condition	Corrosion performance under all possible service environments
Tests conducted on unstable material surface conditions	Tests conducted using surfaces stabilized in service environment
Provide no feedback on materials formulation and composition	Formulate corrosion-resistant material
No physical model of the materials surface	Physical models for accurate, long-term material performance
Not sensitive to low corrosion rates	Tests measure extremely low corrosion rates

The Benefits

• Contributes to strategic development of more durable materials
• Measurement of performance under relevant service conditions
• Improved quantitation of material performance (new and existing)
• Allows for identification of metallurgical factors that impact performance
• Mechanistic understanding for reliable service life predictions

• Improved safety and reliability

Applications

The Argonne ElectroCorrosion Toolkit™can be useful in analyzing and combating corrosion in a range of applications:

• Medical implants
• Oil and gas pipelines
• Water systems
• Automotive and aerospace systems
• 3-D printed materials