Susceptibility of chloride ion concentration, temperature, and surface roughness on pitting corrosion of CoCrFeNi medium-entropy alloy

The influence and susceptibility of chloride ion concentration, temperature, and surface roughness on corrosion behavior of single-phase CoCrFeNi medium-entropy alloy (MEA) was examined in NaCl solution. Potentiodynamic polarization results revealed that the corrosion performance of the sample deteriorated with an increase of the chloride ion concentration, temperature, and surface roughness. The pitting potential decreased drastically for samples with higher surface roughness. According to electrochemical impedance spectroscopy, the charge transfer resistance decreased when chloride ion concentration, temperature, and surface roughness increased. Scanning electron micrographs also indicated an increased extent of corrosion damage, especially for the sample with higher surface roughness. It is found that the corrosion resistance is closely related to the wettability of samples, and the surface with the highest roughness shows higher hydrophilicity. The combined results suggested that the pitting damage is more sensitive to surface roughness. Our findings provide a further understanding of the corrosion mechanism of MEAs and guide their applications as structural materials.