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Electrochemical dissolution behavior of Narloy-Z in sulfuric acid and sulfamic acid solutions

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Abstract

The inner wall of the thrust chamber in hydrogen-oxygen rocket engines is preferentially constructed from Narloy-Z, an aging-strengthened Ag–Cu–Zr alloy, which should be corroded to expose fresh and clean surface prior to outer wall electroforming and thus achieve strong adhesion between the outer and inner walls. However, the high resistance of Narloy-Z to chemical corrosion necessitates the use of alternative techniques (e.g., electrochemical dissolution). Herein, we investigate the electrochemical dissolution behavior of Narloy-Z in H2SO4 and NH2SO3H solutions, study the polarization behavior, and probe its surface composition and structure by instrumental analyses. Passivation and activation behaviors are observed in H2SO4 and NH2SO3H, respectively, and dissolution behavior is found to be influenced by the formation of electrochemical dissolution products (e.g., CuO, Ag2O) on the specimen surface. The passivation and activation mechanisms are analyzed in detail, and further experiments reveal that fresh and clean surface can be exposed in NH2SO3H at current densities of ≥ 6 A cm−2. Finally, qualitative models for the observed electrochemical dissolution behavior are proposed. Thus, this study deepens our mechanistic understanding of electrochemical Narloy-Z dissolution in acidic solutions and provides guidance for the pretreatment of this alloy prior to the electroforming of the outer wall of the thrust chamber.

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Acknowledgements

This study was co-supported by the Foundation for the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 52275436), the Natural Science Foundation of Jiangsu Province (BK20192007) and the National Natural Science Foundation of China for Creative Research Groups (Grant No. 51921003).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering, Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Nanjing, 210016, People’s Republic of China

    Chunjian Shen & Zengwei Zhu

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  1. Chunjian Shen
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  2. Zengwei Zhu
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Contributions

CS: Conceptualization, methodology, validation, formal analysis, writing original draft. ZZ: Conceptualization, methodology, writing-review and editing, supervision, project administration.

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Correspondence to Zengwei Zhu.

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Shen, C., Zhu, Z. Electrochemical dissolution behavior of Narloy-Z in sulfuric acid and sulfamic acid solutions. J Appl Electrochem 53, 401–414 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10800-022-01777-9

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