Mechanism n-type ZnO in High Temperature Corrosion

Corrosion in high temperature can be defined as the process degradation or the

decrease of material's quality, including the degradation of properties of the material. The
properties of the material usually mechanical properties which is influenced by the
atmosphere around it at high temperature.
The degradation of materials properties which happen because the interaction of the
material with the environment is called corrosion. In the real world, corrosion is almost
happens when a material makes contact with the environment which means that the corrosion
is somehow inevitable.
Corrosion in most cases is primarily associated with metallic materials, every material
type is susceptible to degradation. It is important to know the mechanism of corrosion itself
before starting any step towards preventing and avoiding the corrosion itself. The thing to
consider is that corrosion is not something that can be eliminated, but it is definitely
avoidable.
In general, corrosion can be classified into several categories based on the
morphology of the attack. This means that corrosion can be different in terms of the
mechanism in the categories depend on some parameters, such as the environment which the
material is exposed to. For this reason, the difficulties of preventing corrosion can be vary
depend on the needs.
The corrosion on the metal surface was still possible although the liquid electrolyte
does not exist, because it is not surprising that the process is often called dry corrosion.
Although, the definition of corrosion is used for this has not changed, nor the elaboration
process of corrosion and also same equation.
High temperature gives double effects on the degradation of metal in terms of mainly
bad effects. Firstly the increase of temperature will influence the thermodynamic aspect and
kinetic reaction, which means that the degradation will be faster at high temperature thus
increasing the rate of corrosion.

Secondly, the increase of temperature will influence and moreover the structure of the
metal which leads to different behaviour of the metal itself. If the structure is changed then
generally speaking the material will lost its strength and ultimately will affect the behaviour
of the material.
Ultimately, besides the material is under influence of degradation, which is in the
forms of physical defect on the surface or the external of the material, the decrease of
mechanical properties of the material will furthermore causing or accelerate the metal to be in
a tremendously in bad shape.
An example of high temperature corrosion in terms of the present of n-type ZnO on
the metal. As we know that at high temperature the atmosphere is oxidative which means that
it is prone for oxidation to occur. This type of atmosphere is potentially oxidize the metal at
high temperature.
The discussion before about high temperature corrosion is that even though there is no
liquid electrolyte which present at that time. The temperature which influenced the diffusion
of atom has makes it possible for the n-type ZnO to diffuse in to the metal where it is
supported by the high temperature.
The problem arose when the diffusion of the n-type ZnO into the metal as it is noted
in the equation reaction of corrosion in high temperature. The reaction in high temperature
can be described as:

M M2+ + 2e1/2 O2 + 2e- O2

M + 1/2 O2 MO
For the n-type ZnO, the main problem is that in the oxide, both Zn 2+ and Zn+ may be
present in the interstitial sites and the additional electrons are promoted to the conduction
band. To have a clear understanding, below is the illustration: