Designing alloys for sustainable sacrificial anodes

Abstract

In this paper we present: a) a design process for manufacturing alloys to be used as sacrificial anodes in marine environments; b) the proposal to replace In with Ag, in search of alloys that could contribute to environmental sustain; and c) the proposal to include the parameters related to anode structure and their manufacturing process in the regulation of sacrificial anodes.
Eight Al-Zn 2% alloys were manufactured, tested, and compared in our laboratory. These had a lower content than the one indicated by the alloy standards - 3.5-5% and 4-5% content for In and Sn respectively- looking for a more sustainable environment. Four of them were alloyed with In (from 0.59 to 0.766%), and four with Ag (from 0.23 to 0.428%). In order to modify the structure, two cooling rates were used during solidification, seeking to modify their properties, and hence their behavior against corrosion, i.e. corrosion potential, corrosion rate, anode activation, type of corrosion and current efficiency. It was found that the variation of the cooling rate changes the structure of the alloys, their properties and corrosion behaviors. The overall behavior of some of the Ag alloys is superior to those containing In. The higher efficiencies were obtained for alloys with the lower amount of In (69%) and Ag (71%).