Investigation of microbial corrosion inhibition of Cu-bearing 316L stainless steel in the presence of acid producing bacterium Acidithiobacillus caldus SM-1

Stainless steel (SS) has unsatisfied corrosion resistance in many aggressive environments, particularly under a low pH condition in the bioleaching industry. In this study, through surface analyses and electrochemical measurements, the corrosion resistance of a novel Cu-bearing 316L SS was evaluated in the presence of an acid-producing bacterium, Acidithiobacillus caldus SM-1 that was able to create an extremely acidic corrosive environment. The significantly enhanced anti-microbiologically-inducedcorrosion performance could be explained by the intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) and Fenton reaction on the Cu-bearing 316L SS. (C) 2020 Published by Elsevier Ltd on behalf of The editorial office of Journal of Materials Science & Technology.

Automated summary

In this study, the corrosion resistance of a novel Cu-bearing 316L stainless steel was evaluated in the presence of Acidithiobacillus caldus SM-1, which created an extremely acidic corrosive environment. The enhanced anti-microbiologically-induced corrosion performance was attributed to intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) and the Fenton reaction on the Cu-bearing 316L SS.