Effective chloride ion resistance of aluminum powder through interface electric field designing

Abstract

Pure aluminium (Al) powder is widely used in aerospace fields as fuel while its corrosion mechanisms and anti-corrosion strategies are not thoroughly studied. Herein, corrosion mechanisms of Al nanoparticles are revealed by density functional theory (DFT) and experiments. Moreover, by utilizing the behaviour of ions moving in the electric field, an interfacial electric field is designed to endow spherical aluminium powder (sAl) with high anti-corrosion for chloride ions (Cl−). Because TiO2 presents lower electrostatic potential than Al2O3 which is on the surface of sAl, the prepared core@shell structural material (sAl@TiO2) holds an interfacial electric field and its direction is from TiO2 to Al2O3. The electric field repels the Cl− adsorption on the surface of sAl@TiO2, bringing about superior Cl− anti-corrosion.

Keywords

• Nanoparticles
• Nanocomposites
• Interfacial electric field
• Chloride ions
• Density functional theory