The surface reactivity of a magnesium–aluminium alloy in acidic fluoride solutions studied by electrochemical techniques and XPS

The behaviour of the 6% Al magnesium alloy AM60 in aqueous acid fluoride solutions was studied in situ by electrochemical techniques and the surface chemistry of the resulting film was examined by monochromatized XPS. The evolution of the corrosion potential and cyclic voltammograms showed that the aggressiveness of the solutions is mainly driven by their fluoride concentration, the pH having almost no detectable influence. The more concentrated and acidic fluoride solutions led to a higher degree of fluoride coverage of the surface. The surface film is composed of magnesium hydroxide and hydroxyfluoride Mg(OH)2 xFx which approaches MgF2 with increasing fluoride concentration in the film. The parameters governing the film evolution and their relation to surface reactions are discussed