Microbiologically influenced corrosion of 304L stainless steel caused by an alga associated bacterium Halomonas titanicae

doi:10.1016/j.jmst.2019.06.023

Abstract

Abstract:

Algae are reported to be corrosive, while little is known about the role of the algae associated bacteria in the corrosion process. In the present study, Halomonas titanicae was isolated from a culture of an alga strain, Spirulina platensis, and identified through 16S rRNA gene analysis. Corrosion behavior of 304L stainless steel (SS) coupons in the presence and absence of H. titanicae was characterized by using electrochemical measurements and surface analysis. The results showed that H. titanicae significantly accelerated the corrosion rate and decreased the pitting potential of 304L SS in the biotic medium. After removal of the corrosion products and biofilms, severe pitting corrosion caused by H. titanicae was observed. The largest pit depth after 14 d reached 6.6 μm, which was 5.5 times higher than that of the sterile control (1.2 μm). This is the first report revealing that an alga associated bacterium can induce microbiologically influenced corrosion (MIC), and a further concern is raised that whether algae play a role in the MIC process.

Key words: Microbiologically influenced corrosion, Halomonas titanicae, Pitting corrosion

Yuqiao Dong, Yassir Lekbach, Zhong Li, Dake Xu, Soumya El Abed, Saad Ibnsouda Koraichi, Fuhui Wang. Microbiologically influenced corrosion of 304L stainless steel caused by an alga associated bacterium Halomonas titanicae[J]. J. Mater. Sci. Technol., 2020, 37: 200-206.

Figures/Tables 6

Fig. 1. Schematic illustration of isolation and identification of the alga associated bacteria from S. platensis culture.

Fig. 2. (a) EOCP and (b) 1/Rp vs. exposure time for 304L SS coupons in the sterile and biotic media for 14 d, (c) comparisons of impedance values for 304L SS coupons in the sterile and biotic media after exposure for 1, 7 and 14 d and (d) comparisons of potentiodynamic polarization curves for 304L SS coupons after 7 and 14 d exposed to the sterile and biotic media, respectively.

Table 1 Parameters extracted from EIS measurements for 304L SS in the sterile and biotic media during the incubation of 14 d.

Day	R_s (Ω cm²)	Q_f (×10^-6?Ω^-1?cm^-2?Sⁿ)	n_f	R_b (Ω cm²)	Q_dl (×10^-6?Ω^-1?cm^-2?Sⁿ)	n_dl	R_ct (×10² kΩ cm²)	X² (×10^-3)
In the sterile medium
1	13.9	21.9	0.91	-	-	-	35.9	1.0
4	14.3	20.9	0.91	-	-	-	61.7	1.6
7	14.4	20.4	0.91	-	-	-	46.9	1.5
10	14.0	20.9	0.91	-	-	-	38.3	1.1
14	14.8	24.4	0.90	-	-	-	34.0	1.0
In the biotic medium
1	10.5	20.0	0.92	15.4	32.1	0.84	0.70	0.99
4	11.1	35.5	0.85	58.0	12.1	0.90	0.49	1.9
7	10.1	42.9	0.83	135	7.4	0.95	0.51	2.4
10	10.0	41.7	0.83	162	7.9	0.95	0.57	2.1
14	10.0	38.4	0.82	291	9.7	0.92	0.82	1.3

Table 2 Corrosion parameters from the polarization curves for 304L SS in the sterile and biotic media for 7 and 14 d.

Medium	Duration (d)	i_corr (μA cm^-2)	E_corr (V) vs. SCE	E_pit (V) vs. SCE
Sterile medium	7	0.5	-0.20	0.45
Sterile medium	14	0.3	-0.26	0.70
Biotic medium	7	2.4	-0.69	0.41
Biotic medium	14	5.8	-0.79	0.26

Fig. 3. CLSM 3-D images of H. titanicae biofilm on the 304L SS coupon surfaces after (a) 7 d, (b) 14 d; SEM images of the 304L SS coupon surfaces after exposure to (c) sterile medium and (d) biotic medium for 14 d; the largest pit depth on 304L SS coupon surfaces after 14 d of exposure to (e) sterile medium and (f) biotic medium.

Fig. 4. XPS spectra of Fe 2p, O 1s and Cr 2p for 304L SS coupons after 14 d incubation in the sterile medium (a, c, e) and biotic medium (b, d, f).

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