Laboratory characterization of surface passivation phenomena and surface treatment baths
Your needs: assessing the service life of your products by studying their surface passivation
Passivation refers to the ability of a metal to protect itself against corrosion through the formation of a natural or artificial film. For most metals (aluminium, steel, titanium, etc.), this protective layer forms naturally through oxidation. These materials are referred to as “self-passivating.”
For materials that are not inherently self-passivating, surface treatments can accelerate or create the passivation process to provide better protection. These electrochemical treatments involve reacting the surface of a material to produce a layer of metal oxides, making the metal “impermeable.”
To help companies better control corrosive attacks on materials, the support of a specialist laboratory can provide a better understanding of the passivation phenomena associated with their product, enabling them to assess its service life and control the effectiveness of the passivation baths used.
Our solutions: characterising the surface of your materials and measuring the effectiveness of your passivation baths
Thanks to its dual expertise in chemistry and materials science, the FILAB laboratory has the surface analysis expertise and the analytical tools required to study surface passivation phenomena and analyse the associated treatments.
FILAB Laboratory can provide various services related to the passivation of a material:
Studying passivation
Studying changes in the surface over time
Salt spray test (in accordance with ISO 9227) to assess the time required for the part to degrade
Characterisation of passivation in accordance with the ASTM F86-21 standard
Surface failure analysis (corrosion, breakage, impurities, etc.)
Characterisation of DM passivation in accordance with the ASTM A967 and A967/M and A380/A380M standards
Analyse des bains de traitement de surface
Analyse de la composition chimique des bains
Validation des procédés de passivation
Etude de l’évolution des propriétés des bains
For this purpose, FILAB has a 5,200 m² analytical facility equipped with cutting-edge tools, including a Scanning Electron Microscope (FEG-SEM EDX) for surface studies, as well as several ICP-AES and IC systems for analysing bath composition.
Did you know?
A material described as “stainless” is actually a material that oxidises easily. When it comes into contact with oxygen, a layer of oxides forms on its surface. This passive layer, which has the particular ability to regenerate itself, protects it against corrosion and makes it a “stainless” material.
