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).