Chemical and electrochemical coloration of stainless steel and pitting corrosion resistance studies

Colored oxide films were grown on AISI-304 stainless-steel samples by chemical and electrochemical methods using different coloring times. The electrochemical methods involved the use of alternating potential pulses and triangular current scans. The colored films were characterized in the visible region by reflectance spectrophotometry. Pitting corrosion resistance of the different colored steel samples was evaluated at 25degreesC in 0.62 mol L-1 NaCl, using potentiodynamic polarization curves, and in 0.4 mol L-1 HCl, by electrochemical impedance spectroscopy. Independently of the coloring method used, the colored oxide films showed a protective effect against pitting corrosion only in the first hours of exposition. For longer exposition times (8-10 h) the colored and non-colored steel samples presented similar behaviors.