ELECTROCHEMICAL-BEHAVIOR OF AL-IN ALLOYS IN CHLORIDE SOLUTIONS

The present work is concerned with the study of the activation mechanism of Al in alloys produced by indium. The electrochemical behaviour of aluminium in NaCl solutions containing In3+ ions and the dissolution of Al-In and In-Al alloys were studied using potentiostatic, galvanostatic and potentiodynamic techniques, complemented by SEM. It was concluded that the aluminium activation is obtained only when indium comes into a true metallic contact with aluminium within an active pit and in the presence of chloride ions. Polarization curves for dissolution of Al-In and In-Al alloys were compared. The results suggest that the initial step in the dissolution mechanism of the Al-In alloy can be interpreted through chloride ion adsorption on a surface In-Al alloy. This adsorption occurs at more electronegative potentials than that of pure aluminium, thus avoiding repassivation.