Hydrogen evolution ability of selected pure metals and galvanic corrosion behavior between the metals and magnesium

Abstract

The cathodic hydrogen evolution ability of different pure metals and their long term galvanic corrosion behavior with pure Mg were investigated. The hydrogen evolution ability of pure Ti, Al, Sn and Zr is weak, while that of Fe, W, Cr, and Co is very strong. Initial polarization test could not completely reveal the cathodic behavior of the tested metals during long term corrosion. The cathodic hydrogen evolution ability may vary significantly in the long term galvanic tests for different metals, especially for Al whose cathodic current density reduced to 1/50 of the initial value. The anodic polarization shows that Al and Sn as alloying elements are supposed to provide relatively good passive effect for Mg alloy, while Ag can provide a slight passive effect and Zn has little passive effect.