Passivity breakdown of 13Cr stainless steel under high chloride and CO2 environment

Herein, the effect of high chloride ion (Cl−) concentration on the corrosion behavior and passive film breakdown of 13Cr martensitic stainless steel under CO2 environment was demonstrated. The Cl− concentration was varied from 30 to 150 g/L and cyclic potentiodynamic polarization was conducted to investigate the influence of the Cl− concentration on the corrosion potential (Ecorr), passive breakdown potential (Epit), and repassivation potential (Erep). The results of the polarization curves revealed that 13Cr stainless steel is susceptible to pitting under high Cl− concentration. The passive breakdown potential and repassivation potential decreased with the increase of Cl− concentration. The semiconducting behavior of the passive film was investigated by Mott-Schottky analysis and the point defect model (PDM). It was observed that the iron cation vacancies and oxygen vacancies were continuously generated by autocatalytic reactions and the higher Cl− concentration resulted in higher vacancies in the passive film. Once the excess vacancies condensed at the metal/film interface, the passive film became locally detached from the metal, which led to the breakdown of the passive film.