Molten carbonate-induced hot corrosion of nickel

The accelerated oxidation of pure nickel in the presence of a molten carbonate mixture has been studied in O₂ and CO₂-containing atmospheres. The oxidation rate of nickel with carbonate coatings was at least four orders of magnitude faster than that without salt coatings. The extent of oxidation, in terms of unit area weight gain, depended on both the amount of carbonate mixture coatings and the gas atmosphere. The unit area weight gain due to oxidation increased with increasing amounts of salt coatings up to a certain value. These observations suggest that the termination of nickel oxidation results from the exhaustion of either the salt coatings or metallic nickel. Porous and particulate oxide products were observed from scanning electron microscopic (SEM) examinations. The energy-dispersive analysis of x-rays (EDAX) shows that no salt remains on the specimen surface after the oxidation experiment.