A novel ultra-low current and temperature controlled electrochemical method for exposing various kinds of secondary phase precipitates: Application to the sample preparation of zirconium alloys and some other common alloys

Abstract Secondary phase particles (SPPs) have attracted extensive attention because of their effects on the properties and performance of alloy materials. In the present study, a novel ultra-low current and temperature controlled electrochemical (ULCT) method, which can expose contained SPPs on the alloy surface, has been proposed for the first time. We demonstrated that the exciting new approach is feasible for the high-quality bulk sample preparation of various common alloys including Zircaloy-4 (Zr-4 alloy), GH99 super alloy and 2A12 aluminium alloy. Results show that this ULCT method is a real universal and promising method for the specific sample preparation, which will make SEM-based techniques become invaluable for routine characterisation of SPPs in various kinds of alloys.