The application of laboratory and synchrotron-based spectroscopic techniques to the study of passive films and corrosion protective layers

The highly kinetic nature of the corrosion process often leads to the formation of metastable corrosion product layers and alloy surface compositions sometimes vastly different from that of the bulk. In order to understand the corrosion process it is often necessary to combine surface and interface compositional and structural studies alongside more traditional electrochemical kinetic studies. In this review we discuss corrosion research work performed in our laboratory which has utilized laboratory based as well as synchrotron spectroscopic techniques. We shall discuss issues related to the strengths and weaknesses of several spectroscopic techniques using examples of our work related to stainless steels and aluminum-copper alloys.