An Ultralow Oxygen Partial Pressure-Controlling System and Its Application to Oxidation Studies

An ultralow oxygen partial pressure-controlling system, based on solid-stateelectrochemical principles, has been developed. This system consists of anoxygen sensor and an oxygen pump and is controlled by a PC computer. Theoxygen sensor is used to measure the oxygen partial pressure in an enclosedsystem, while the oxygen pump is used to transport oxygen from the ambientair into the enclosed system or from the enclosed system to the ambientair. The operating conditions of this system have been studied. The resultsshowed that it can be used to establish a stable oxygen partial pressure inthe range of 10−18∼5×105 Pa (1×10−23∼5 atm)in the enclosed system. This system has been used to investigate theselective oxidation of the Cr and the oxide formation on the surface of aNi–Cr alloy under three different low oxygen partial pressures. Theoxide morphology was studied using atomic force microscopy (AFM). The resultsagreed well with those in the literature and also confirm the reliability of this system.