A Method for Film Passivation Process Study and Its Application

A set of film fracture apparatus has been designed on the basis of traditional scratching electrode experiment theory.The advantage of the film fracture method for passivation process study consists in the simultaneous exposing of the bare surface into solution,therefore the accurtate current decay relationship resulting from the passivation can be measured.The passivation process in 3.5% NaCl solution of the magnetron-sputtered amorphous and crystalline stainless steel film have been studied by use of the apparatus. The results showed that the bare surface of the amorphous film exhibited a higher reactivity and a more rapid formation rate of passive layer compared with the crystalline film.