Corrosion and inhibition of medium-strength aluminum alloys

The use of chromates in aluminum alloys with aeronautical applications has been limited because of the high toxicity of these compounds. This has spurred intensive efforts to develop alternative effective and innocuous inhibitors. In this work, corrosion inhibition of a light and high strength Al-Li-Cu alloy (8090) is studied in NaCl solutions with CeCl3 and LaCl3 lanthanide salts added. The corrosion rate is reduced at least one order of magnitude with concentrations between 100-10,000 ppm. SEM, EDS and XPS techniques are used to characterize the rare earth cations incorporated into the surface as oxides and hydroxides.