Analysis of XPS results of AISI 316L SS electropolished and magnetoelectropolished at varying conditions

The aim of the paper is to present the surface film composition formed on AISI 316L stainless steel after electropolishing (EP) and magnetoelectropolishing (MEP) for a wide range of the process conditions. The electropolishing EP process has been performed under natural convection (in still electrolyte), and under a forced convection (moderate stirring below 0.1 m/s), both at the polarization plateaux and much above it. Another series of experiments were carried out on AISI 316L SS samples prepared by MEP at 350 mT. The samples prepared by mechanical abrasive polishing, with the grit size of 1000 served as a reference. The Cr: Fe ratio was also studied for the differently prepared samples and it was found that this ratio was significantly higher for the EP and MEP samples than the mechanically polished one. Based on the results, the selection of proper electropolishing conditions have been formulated. (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.