Synergetic effects of impurities and alloying element Cr on oxidation and dissolution corrosion of Ni (111) surfaces: A DFT study

Using density-functional calculations, we studied the interactions between interstitial impurities (H, O, N, S, and P) and Ni (111) surfaces doped, or not, with Cr, and studied the effect of Cr doping on the dissolution corrosion resistance of Ni(111) surfaces. The aim of this work was to study, at the atomic scale, the effects of Cr on the segregation behaviors of impurities and the synergetic effects between co-doped atoms on the resistance to dissolution corrosion of Ni (111) surfaces. The results indicate that impurities S, P, O, and H prefer to be trapped at near-surface sites, that Cr was uniformly distributed in the Ni crystal and can affect the segregation behavior of impurities S and P to move toward the surface, and it affects impurities N and O such that they shift from the surface to the subsurface. The formation of near-surface Cr nitrides (speculated to be Cr₂N based on the results obtained for particular co-doped surfaces) was also noted. Introducing Cr enhances the structural stability of the Ni (111) surface and protects it from being corroded when impurities are present. The elementary processes studied afforded microscopic insights into the formation of a Cr-depleted zone, a phenomenon that leads to local corrosion of the Ni alloy surface. The results of our theoretical calculations explain some of the experimental results previously observed at the atomic scale.