Corrosion Behaviour of Sputtered Alumina Thin Films

Corrosion studies of sputtered alumina thin films grown on stainless steel (SS) 304 were carried out by linear polarization and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy. Noticeable changes were not observed in morphology and surface roughness of films after carrying out the corrosion test. Corrosion current density (icorr) of alumina coated SS decreased up to 10−10 A cm−2 while icorr value in the range of 10−5–10−6 A cm−2 was observed for bare SS. The direct sputtered film showed superior corrosion resistance behaviour than the reactive sputtered film. This might be attributed to the difference in thickness of the films sputtered by direct and reactive methods. The electronic structure of deposited alumina films was studied both before and after corrosion test by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy technique which also confirmed no structural changes of alumina film after exposing it to corrosive environment.