Effect of cerium ion implantation on the aqueous corrosion behavior of zircaloy-4

In order to study the influence of cerium ion implantation on the aqueous corrosion behavior of zircaloy-4, specimens were implanted by cerium ions with a fluence range from 1×1016 to 1×1017 ions/cm2 at maximum 150 °C, using MEVVA source at an extracted voltage of 40 kV. The valence of the surface layer was analyzed by X-ray photoemission spectroscopy (XPS); Three-sweep potentiodynamic polarization measurement was employed to value the aqueous corrosion resistance of zircaloy-4 in a 1N H2SO4 solution. It was found that a significant improvement in the aqueous corrosion behavior of zircaloy-4 implanted with cerium ions compared with that of the as-received zircaloy-4. The improvement effect will decline with raising the implantation fluence. The bigger is the fluence, the less is the improvement. Finally, the mechanism of the corrosion behavior of the cerium-implanted zircaloy-4 is discussed.