Corrosion of aluminum and its alloys under the effect of microscopic fungi

Abstract

Biocorrosion of aluminum and its alloys under the effect of 8 strains of microscopic fungi has been studied. The most active biodegraders of metals have been revealed. A role of exometabolites formed in the process of microscopic fungi life cycle in the initiation and development of corrosion has been shown.

Corrosion of aluminum alloy 2024 caused by Aspergillus niger

“…Some demonstrated that this fungus caused corrosion damages (Hagenauer et al, 1994;Belov et al, 2008), while the others claimed that it protected pure aluminum from corrosion due to the formation of the passivating layer of aluminum oxides (Juzeliunas et al, 2005;Juzeliunas et al, 2007;Miecinskas et al, 2007). The acceleration or inhibition of aluminum alloy corrosion depends on factors such as culturing medium, metabolites produced by fungi, and alloy types (Juzeliunas et al, 2005;Juzeliunas et al, 2007;Miecinskas et al, 2007;Smirnov et al, 2008;Belov et al, 2008). In our short-term study, the results revealed that AA 2024-T3, an aluminumcopper alloy, was susceptible to pitting corrosion in the presence of A. niger.…”

“…However, relatively few studies have focused on the involvement of fungi. In fact, a wide variety of fungi commonly existing in nature are capable of influencing metal corrosion (Salvarezza et al, 1983;Ayllon and Rosales, 1994;Hagenauer et al, 1994;Little et al, 1997;Videla et al, 1988;Galarde et al, 1999;Little and Ray, 2002;McNamara et al, 2005;Araya et al, 2007;Belov et al, 2008;Rosales and Iannuzzi, 2008;Smirnov et al, 2008;Qu et al, 2015;Ching et al, 2016). For example, fungus Hormoconis (Cladosporium) resinae, a main microorganism found in the aviation fuel system, could affect the corrosion of aluminum fuel tanks with the corrosive acid metabolites or the corrosion inhibitor produced by the microorganism (Salvarezza et al, 1983;Videla et al, 1988;Ayllon and Rosales, 1994).…”

“…For instance, A. niger and P. frequentans had been reported to protect pure aluminum from corrosion during two years of exposure, mainly by developing a passivating layer of aluminum oxides at localized corroded sites (Juzeliunas et al, 2005;Juzeliunas et al, 2007;Miecinskas et al, 2007). It seems fungal influenced corrosion depends on many factors including metal types, fungal species and exposure time (Juzeliunas et al, 2005;Araya et al, 2007;Juzeliunas et al, 2007;Miecinskas et al, 2007;Belov et al, 2008;Rosales and Iannuzzi, 2008;Smirnov et al, 2008;Qu et al, 2015). Also, few studies have generated enough quantitative information on pitting morphology to permit detailed investigation on the corrosion mechanism of aluminum or its alloys by fungi.…”

Effect of the structure of o,o´-dihydroxyazo compounds on bactericidal and inhibitory ability

“…However, stimulation of the corrosion of metals, particularly steel, zinc, and galvanized steel [12,13] by other microorganisms (Esteria Coli, Proteus vulgaris, Pseudomonasaeruginosa, Brucella sp, Gallionella sp, Staphylococus aureus, Staphylococus epidermidis [7,13]) is considered as well. More frequently, the stimulating effect of bacteria cells, in particular SRB, is interpreted as the result of acceleration of the cathodic reaction because of accumulation of micro organism vital activity products, primarily hydrogen sulfide [5,16].…”

“…The adverse effect of microbiological corrosion on structural metals is so great [1] and their damage to the world economy is so huge [2] that the problems of struggle against it are constantly in the field of vision of the researches [3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15]. Moreover, 20% of all losses from corrosion are due to microbiological impact.…”