Preparation and characterization of hydrotalcite coatings to protect aluminium alloys

Abstract

Pitting corrosion of the aluminium alloy cladding of spent research reactor fuels during wet storage is the main form of degradation. To prevent this, hydrotalcite (HTC) based coatings were proposed. This paper presents the effect of chemical bath parameters on the microstructure of HTC coatings and the corrosion behavior of HTC coated AA 6061 specimens. The HTC coating formed at 98 °C from nitrate baths and referred to as HT-HTC was homogeneous and consisted of intersecting blade-like crystallites. Electrochemical tests revealed that HT-HTC coated specimens that were treated in a cerium salt solution were the most resistant to corrosion. Field tests in which un-coated and HTC coated AA 6061 alloy coupons as well as full-size plates were exposed to the IEA-R1 reactor’s spent fuel basin for 23 months corroborated the high corrosion resistance imparted by the HT-HTC + Ce coating. The mechanism by which the HTC coating and cerium protect the Al alloy is discussed.