Experimental and theoretical study on the corrosion resistance of Zr–Co–Al–Nb metallic glasses

Abstract

The corrosion resistance of (Zr56Al16Co28)100−XNbX(X = 0, 2, 4) metallic glasses in Hanks’ solution were investigated by electrochemical polarization measurements. Polarization curves demonstrate that the addition of niobium into Zr–Co–Al amorphous alloys improves the corrosion resistance. Composition and chemical status of the elements in the passive film were characterized by XPS, and first-principles calculations based on density functional theory (DFT) were used to analyse the mechanism theoretically.