The electrochemical behaviour of 316L austenitic stainless steel in Cl− containing environment under different H2S partial pressures

In oil–gas production environments, presence of H2S–Cl− can induce deterioration of the passive film, leading to pitting corrosion of stainless steels. In this paper, by using potentiodynamic polarization, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) and capacitance measurements (Mott–Schottky analysis), the electrochemical behaviour of AISI 316L austenitic stainless steel was investigated in Cl− solutions under different H2S partial pressures (from 0 to 1.0 bar). The results indicated that presence of H2S in Cl− solution can accelerate both the cathodic and anodic current density, leading to a metastable passive state in higher passive potential range, changing the semiconductor behaviour from p-type to n-type, increasing its susceptibility to corrosion. XPS analysis was employed to characterize the surface film after potentiostatic polarization, whose results provide good evidences for the electrochemical measurements.