Corrosion resistance of nanostructured films of titanium diboride in mineral acid solutions

The reactions of nanostructured TiB2 films (mean grain size is 3.3 +/- 1.1 nm) with mineral acids (HCl, H2SO4, H3PO4, and HNO3) of different concentrations have been studied. It is found that the dissolution of the films is a congruent process showing linear kinetics for the time periods in the range from 300 to 1500 min. The corrosion depth parameters of nanostructured TiB2 films in mineral acids are determined, and their corrosion resistance is graded on a ten-point scale. The studied films show the lowest corrosion resistance in their reaction with nitric acid solutions, and the highest resistance is observed in phosphoric acid solutions.