The Initial Stages of Oxide Film Formation on Copper and Some Copper Alloys

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Abstract
The initial stages of oxide formation on thin foils of copper, Cu-2.5Al-2.5Si, and Cu-7.5Al-2Si alloys in moist atmospheres of oxygen and sulfur dioxide have been studied by transmission electron microscopy and electron diffraction over the temperature range 200-380 C (392-716 F). On the Cu-2.5Al-2.5Si alloy grain boundaries and twin boundaries are preferential sites for oxide nucleation. On the Cu-7.5Al-2Si alloy no preferential sites are observed. The relative reactivities of different crystallographic planes are the same for the alloys as for the metal. On oxidized thin foils a prenucleation thermal pitting phenomenon has been observed at temperatures very much lower than the thermal pitting observed by other workers. Oxide nuclei have been observed to form on a thin amorphous layer of oxide even when there is no metal directly underneath. These results are discussed with reference to current theories on the initial stages of oxide formation. It is concluded that in the prenucleation stage the metal surface is covered with a highly mobile layer of cations and anions.

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