While NaNO2addition can greatly inhibit the corrosion of carbon steel and ductile cast iron, in order to improve the similar corrosion resistance,ca.100 times more NaNO2addition is needed for ductile cast iron compared to carbon steel. A corrosion and inhibition mechanism is proposed wherebyNO2-ion is added to oxidize. TheNO2-ion can be reduced to nitrogen compounds and these compounds may be absorbed on the surface of graphite. Therefore, since nitrite ion needs to oxidize the surface of matrix and needs to passivate the galvanic corroded area and since it is absorbed on the surface of graphite, a greater amount of corrosion inhibitor needs to be added to ductile cast iron compared to carbon steel. The passive film of carbon steel and ductile cast iron, formed by NaNO2addition showed N-type semiconductive properties and its resistance, is increased; the passive current density is thus decreased and the corrosion rate is then lowered. In addition, the film is mainly composed of iron oxide due to the oxidation byNO2-ion; however, regardless of the alloys, nitrogen compounds (not nitrite) were detected at the outermost surface but were not incorporated in the inner oxide.

Chromium (Cr) films were deposited on plain carbon steel sheets by dc and rf magnetron sputtering as well as by electroplating. Effects of dc or rf sputtering power on the deposition rate and properties such as, hardness, adhesion strength, surface roughness and corrosion resistance of the Cr films were investigated. X-ray diffraction (XRD), atomic force microscopy (AFM), scanning electron microcopy (SEM) analyses were performed to investigate the crystal structure, surface roughness, thickness of the Cr films. Salt fog tests were used to evaluate the corrosion resistance of the samples. The deposition rate, hardness and surface roughness of the Cr film deposited by either dc or rf sputtering increase with the increase in sputtering power but the adhesion strength is nearly independent of the sputtering power. The deposition rate, hardness and adhesion strength of the Cr film deposited by dc sputtering are higher than those of the Cr film deposited by rf sputtering, but rf sputtering offers smoother surface and higher corrosion resistance. The sputter deposited Cr film is harder and has a smoother surface than the electroplated one. The sputter deposited Cr film also has higher corrosion resistance than the electroplated one, which may be attributed to the smoother surface of the sputter deposited film.