Corrosion Protection of AISI 304 Stainless Steel using Thin Films of Manganese Nitride

In this work, the thin films of manganese nitride were used to protect AISI 304 stainless steel against corrosion in 3.5% salt solution. These coatings were prepared using the physical vapor deposition of manganese. After deposition, the samples were placed in a furnace under nitrogen flux for nitriding. The crystal structure of the samples was studied using X-ray diffraction (XRD) pattern, and the formation of manganese nitride phase was observed. An atomic force microscope (AFM) was used to investigate the surface morphology of the samples. To evaluate the corrosion resistance of the structures, EiS and polarization tests were performed on the samples. the corrosion resistance of the samples was obtained by simulating the equivalent circuit. Finally, the surface of the corroded samples was observed using scanning electron microscopy (SEM).