Chlorinated solvents like 1,1,1-trichloroethane and trichloroethylene find extensive industrial use in vapor degreasing metal cleaning applications. Inhibitor systems are used to prevent reactions of the solvent with metals like aluminum. Proper solvent stabilization allows the use of these solvents in large scale aluminum cleaning applications, e.g. the aerospace industry. The purpose of this paper is to examine how the solvent attacks a metal like aluminum and how the inhibitors prevent this interaction. The proposed mechanism of solvent-metal interaction and passivation is similar to that proposed for metal-water interactions. However, the chlorinated solvent-metal interaction is not electrochemical in nature, i.e. having definite anodic-cathodic sites. The corrosion attack is instead a direct chemical attack of the solvent on the metal to yield the metal chloride salt and a dimer of the organic reactant. A brief discussion of prior work will assist in understanding our experimental results.

Subject
Acids, Salts, Reaction products, Metal surfaces, Aluminum, Solvents, Oxide surfaces, Metals, Corrosion inhibitors, Carbon, Chlorides, Chemical reactions, Hydrogen
© 1978 Association for Materials Protection and Performance (AMPP). All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without the prior written permission of AMPP. Positions and opinions advanced in this work are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of AMPP. Responsibility for the content of the work lies solely with the author(s).
1978
Association for Materials Protection and Performance (AMPP)
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