Tantalum passivity breakdown

A major issue, for the passivation and corrosion resistance of aluminum alloys, is the existence or not of second phase inter-metallic particles resulting from alloying with elements that have low solubility in aluminum (Rynders et al., 1994 Kowal et al., 1996). These particles are detrimental to the resistance of the passive film to breakdown (the first stage of a localized corrosion process). In contrast to stainless steels, this factor often overwhelms the beneficial alloying effects. However, it must be pointed out that alloying elements such as copper in solid solution are beneficial (Muller and Galvele, 1977). Other elements, such as chromium, molybdenum, titanium, tantalum, and niobium, seem to improve the corrosion resistance of aluminum, but their solubility is too low for them to be used in conventional alloy processes, and they require the use of rapid quenching processes or some sort of nonequilibrium surface deposition. 

When exposed to oxidizing or slightly anodic conditions, tantalum forms a thin impervious layer of tantalum oxide. This passivating oxide has the broadest range of stability with regard to chemical attack or thermal breakdown compared to other metallic films. Chemicals or conditions that attack tantalum, such as hydrofluoric acid, are those which penetrate or dissolve the film. 

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