Theory of coupled deposition and dissolution of solids, with focus on corrosion

Corrosion affects the durability of metals and structures and has important economic consequences, such as the continuous inspection for and replacement of damaged material. Corrosion often initiates locally and therefore, to increase the sustainable use of metals, a thorough knowledge of corrosion and its localized initiation is crucial. One technique to investigate this experimentally is the gold nanoplating technique on pure copper. This study investigates the pattern formation in this concurrent deposition-corrosion system. First we derive the general model for deposition-dissolution systems and then apply this to the gold-nanoplating example. This is the first model to implement non-linear reaction kinetics based on far-from equilibrium thermodynamics. Effects related to curvature induced diffusion and/or effective phase-separation upon deposition/dissolution are inherently included, phenomena which affect the formation dynamics of deposited film and the corroded bulk material-film interface. Other applications of the model are the passivation of stainless steels, the galvanization protection of Zn with respect to iron, and Li plating during continuous cycling of Li-Ion batteries.