Influence of pH on the chemical and structural properties of the oxide films formed on 316L stainless steel, alloy 600 and alloy 690 in high temperature aqueous environments

The oxide films formed on 316L stainless steel, alloy 600 and alloy 690 at 320degreesC in high temperature aqueous environments of different pH have been examined by glow discharge optical spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, atomic force microscopy and capacitance measurements. The analytical study reveals that the films formed at pH 5 are mainly composed of chromium oxides. When the pH increases the chromium concentration decreases and those of the other two elements (Ni and Fe) tend to increase. The films formed at pH 5 on 316L stainless steel and alloy 600 are thick and powder-like. The film formed at the same pH on alloy 690 is thin and is composed of a compact protective inner layer and a less-compact outer layer formed by crystals of mixed iron-nickel-chromium oxides. The morphological appearance of the thick films and that of the thin films is very different. However, equivalent morphologies can be observed for the relatively thin duplex films formed at pH8 and pH9.5 on the 316L stainless steel and nickel-base alloys. The evolution of the chemical composition of the films is accompanied by important changes from the point of view of their semiconductivity,