Novel use of glow discharge optical emission spectroscopy (GDOES) to study corrosion of AA2024‐T3 in the presence and absence of inhibitors: Part 1: characteristics of elemental depth profiles of AA2024‐T3 corroded in the absence of inhibitors

Recent interest in environmentally friendly alternatives to chromate‐based corrosion inhibitors has led to the development of a range of novel coating formulations. The work described herein is aimed at developing a novel methodology to contribute to investigation of the self‐healing and active corrosion protection of the new coatings. An experimental procedure has been developed to model a defect in the coating by fixing coated specimens in close proximity to the uncoated AA2024‐T3, each separated by a narrow gap containing sodium chloride solution. After exposure to the corrosive environment, elemental depth profiles of the uncoated specimens were acquired by glow discharge optical emission spectroscopy (GDOES). The depth profiles of selected elements (notably aluminium, oxygen and copper) were shown to have characteristics which can be correlated with bulk surface roughening/intensity of corrosion, the thickness of the corroded layer and de‐alloying/re‐distribution of copper. An unanticipated inhibitory effect was noted in the case of a coating doped with γ‐Al 2 O 3 (γ‐alumina or AluOx). Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.