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Purpose This paper aims to investigate the stability of passive oxide film formed on the surface of 316L stainless steel in 3.5 Wt.% NaCl in the presence of two environmentally non-toxic inhibitors, i.e. leaf extracts of Musa spp. (MS) and Jatropha curcas (JC). Design/methodology/approach Current transients and potentiodynamic polarization curves were used to explain the stability of the passive film on Current transients and potentiodynamic polarization curves were used to explain the stability of the passive film on 316L stainless steel at both ambient temperature (25 °C) and 70 °C. For the potentiostatic tests, the coupons underwent cathodic stripping to remove the native oxide on their surfaces at −850 mV for 600 s, and a potential of 50 mV was imposed to observe the repassivation for 200 s. For the potentiodynamic tests, the pitting potential measured at 100 μA/cm2, corrosion potential and cathodic current density were obtained for analysis. Findings The current transients perfectly fitted into the exponential decay curve; i = is + ipeak exp(−t/τ), where the decay constant, τ measures the repassivating speed and extent to which the newly formed film heals and stabilizes. The current transients showed that MS and JC help in the repassivating process, especially at 300 ppm and 200 ppm, respectively, both at the lower temperature. The potentiodynamic curves mostly correlated with the current transients except for the hybrid inhibitor. The inhibitors increased the pitting potentials at concentrations that are correlated to their scanning electron micrograph images. Research limitations/implications Because they are cheap and environmentally friendly, plant extracts that are proven corrosion inhibitors could be used to aid the formation of passive film on passive alloys in not-so-aggressive environments. Practical implications Both MS and JC improve the film stability mostly at intermediate concentrations of 200 and 300 ppm, respectively, at ambient temperature and 70° C. Social implications Using leaf extracts of plants as green inhibitors is considered an environmentally friendly engineering solution. Originality/value The leaf extracts are a convenient resource of green inhibitors because their plants are readily available or could be easily naturalized, the processing technique to obtain the extracts is very cheap and the inhibitors are environmentally friendly. In addition, cathodic stripping exposes a relatively larger surface area than that obtained using the most common forms of depassivation; hence, the efficiency of the inhibitor in aiding the formation of the new oxide film to cover the bare surface would be better measured. There is very lean research data on the combined use of green inhibitors and cathodic stripping to study repassivating kinetics of passive alloys.

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The piezoresistivity of flame-sprayed NiCoCrAlTaY on an electrically insulated surface of a steel substrate was investigated through cyclic extension and compression cycles between 0 and 0.4 mm for 1000 cycles and uniaxial tensile test. The sprayed NiCoCrAlTaY was in grid form with grid thickness of 3 mm and grid length of 30 mm while the electrical insulation was fabricated by flame spraying alumina on the surface of the steel. During mechanical loading, instantaneous electrical resistance measurements were conducted to evaluate the corresponding relative resistance change. Images of the loaded samples were captured for strain calculations through Digital Image Correlation (DIC) technique. After consolidation of the pores within the coating, the behavior of the flame-sprayed NiCoCrAlTaY was consistent and linear within the cyclic compression and extension limits, with strain values of approximately -1000 με and +1700 με, respectively. The coating had a consistent and steady maximum relative resistance change of approximately 5% within both limits. The tensile test revealed that the coating has two gauge factors due to the bi-linearity of the plot of relative resistance change against strain. The progression of damage within the coating layers was analyzed from its piezoresistive response and through back-scattered scanning electron microscopy images. Based on the results, the nickel alloy showed high piezoresistive sensitivity for the duration of the loading cycles, with little or no damage to the coating layers. These results suggest that the flame-sprayed nickel alloy coating has great potential as a surface damage detection sensor.