Patterning corrosion-susceptible metallic alloys for digital image correlation in a scanning electron microscope

We investigate the self-assembly of gold nanoparticles on the surface of magnesium functionalized with 3-(aminopropyl)trimethoxysilane or 3-(mercaptopropyl)trimethoxysilane. These nanoparticles served as a speckle pattern for high magnification deformation tracking via digital image correlation combined with scanning electron microscopy. Controlling the pH of the gold nanoparticle suspension to a specific basicity passivated corrosion in magnesium and in three of its alloys to enable proper nanoparticle bonding and self-assembly. Magnesium was used as a model material as it is particularly difficult to modify for self-assembly because of its propensity to quickly form a thick oxide, hydroxide, and carbonate layer in the presence of oxygen, water, and carbon dioxide, respectively. Moreover, it corrodes in acidic and slightly basic solutions, further complicating the self-assembly process. Due to these difficulties, the successful self-assembly of nanoparticles on magnesium has not previously been reported, to the best of the authors' knowledge. This technique is potentially amendable to other corrosion-susceptible materials. Gold nanoparticles were self-assembled in a uniformly dispersed random distribution on pure cast magnesium, cast AM60 (Mg-6Al-0.5Mn), rolled WE43 (Mg-4Y-3Nd/Gd), and extruded ZE20 (Mg-2Zn-0.2Ce).