Corrosion of hot-rolled 430 stainless steel in HCl-based solution

The mixtures of hydrochloric acid and hydrogen peroxide were employed as the environmental friendly pickling solution for 430 hot-rolled stainless steel in this study. Increase of HCl concentration accelerates the corrosion rate of base metal, however aggravates the intergranular attack in sole hydrochloric acid solution. Addition of oxidant (H₂O₂) boosts the corrosion potential of stainless steel significantly resulting in the change of electrode action. At high oxidant content (0.6 mol l⁻¹ H₂O₂), a corrosion product film accumulates onto the surface and the corrosion is then governed by the mass-transport at the film/stainless steel interface. The random dissolving of metal ions because of the film leads to brightening of stainless steel surface and the local corrosion is suppressed.