Application of ion beam analysis techniques for the investigation of the oxidation and corrosion resistance of low-energy high-flux nitrogen-implanted stainless steel

Rutherford Backscattering spectrometry (RBS), nuclear reaction analysis (NRA) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) were applied to characterize and study the thermal oxidation (in air at 500 C) and corrosion (in 0.5 M HCl at 50 degrees C) resistance of AISI 304L stainless steel samples implanted with high flux (1 mA/cm(2)) low energy (1.2 key) nitrogen ions (dose ca. 3.5 x 10(19) ions/cm(2)) at 400 and 500 degrees C. The implantation led to the formation of a high nitrogen content (ca. 30 wt.%) metastable fcc interstitial nitrogen solid solution also exhibiting increased hardness and wear resistance. The results of this study showed that the steel samples implanted at 400 degrees C exhibited increased hardness and considerably improved corrosion resistance but reduced oxidation resistance at 500 degrees C. On the other hand, the nitrogen implantation at 500 C led to a drastically increased surface hardness of the steel but also to a considerable reduction of its corrosion resistance. The oxidation resistance of these samples was found to be only slightly affected. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.