Formation of Fe-19 wt%Cr-9 wt%Ni Nanocrystalline Alloy with Excellent Corrosion Resistance: Phase Transition and Microstructure

In this paper, microstructure characteristics and phase transitions of Fe-19 wt%Cr-9 wt%Ni nanocrystalline alloy are comprehensively studied during the mechanical alloying and hot pressing sintering processes. Corrosion resistance of the sintered Fe-19 wt%Cr-9 wt%Ni nanocrystalline alloy samples is further analyzed. During the mechanical alloying process, Fe-19 wt%Cr-9 wt%Ni nanocrystalline alloy powders mainly composed of metastable ferrite phase are obtained after mechanical alloying for 8, 16 and 24 h, respectively. In the subsequent hot pressing sintering process, the phase transitions (from ferrite to austenite) occur from 650 to 750 degrees C for Fe-19 wt%Cr-9 wt%Ni alloy powders milled for 24 h. When the sintering temperature is raised to 1050 degrees C for 1 h, the ferrite phase has transformed into austenite phase completely, and the obtained grain size of sintered Fe-19 wt%Cr-9 wt%Ni alloy is around 40 nm. Electrochemistry test of the sintered Fe-19 wt%Cr-9 wt%Ni alloy has been operated in 0.5 mol L-1 H2SO4 solution to show the corrosion resistance properties. Results show that the sintered Fe-19 wt%Cr-9 wt%Ni alloy exhibits excellent corrosion resistance, which is proved by higher self-corrosion potential, lower self-corrosion current density and larger capacitive reactance, compared with that of commercial 304 stainless steel.