Influence of the lithium content on the negative difference effect of Mg-Li alloys

摘要

The so-called 'negative difference effect'(NDE) was often defined by the increasing rate of hydrogen evolution from magnesium(Mg) surface under anodic polarization.In this work,a series of electrochemical tests and microstructure observations were performed to provide an evidence that the NDE of Mg-Li alloys can be retarded by increasing lithium content.Potentiostatic,galvanostatic and potentiodynamic polarization experiments using Mg-xLi(x=4,7.5 and 14 wt%) alloys electrodes indicated that Mg-4 Li alloy maintained the enhancing NDE prior to anodic dissolution as that of conventional Mg alloys.However,the emergence of β-Li phase weakened the NDE of duplex Mg-7.5 Li alloy at a low anodic current density,but it was still enhanced apparently after a high applied anodic value(more than 2 mA/cm^2).The surface observations,including the plane and cross-sectional morphologies,confirmed that the cracked surface film derived from the anodic dissolution resulted in the catalytic activity of NDE for Mg-4 Li and Mg-7.5 Li alloys.Furthermore,the NDE of Mg-14 Li alloy was suppressed obviously after a prior applied anodic polarization,which was attributed to the persistent and integrated surface film which endured a higher level of applied anodic potential and current.