The corrosion behavior of Ce-implanted magnesium alloys

The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of cerium ion implantation on the corrosion behavior of AZ31 magnesium alloys. Samples were implanted with doses of 5 × 1016, 1 × 1017 and 5 × 1017 ion/cm2, respectively, using a metal vapor vacuum arc (MEVVA) source at an extraction voltage of 45 kV. Auger electron spectrometry (AES) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) were used to analyze the depth distribution and the valence states of elements in the implanted layer, respectively. The potentiodynamic polarization technique was applied to evaluate the corrosion resistance of the implanted samples in a 3.5 wt.% NaCl solution saturated with Mg(OH)2. The results showed that under an optimal dose the corrosion resistance of the implanted sample was improved compared with that of the bare sample. Finally, the corrosion mechanism of the Ce-implanted samples was discussed.