Professional research in cooperation with VŠCHT

29. 1. 2024

What specific impact does pickling and passivation have on the durability of stainless steel materials? Which quantities enter the chemical process and how do they affect the resulting technological process? What is the difference between pickling and passivation? What do the current standards tell us and why is there so much confusion? How to choose the procedure for pickling and passivation of advanced materials, which include, for example, superaustenites, superduplexes or nickel alloys?

We started asking these questions last year with colleagues from VŠCHT, Václav Šefle and Tomáš Prošek, as part of a three-year research project. The purpose of the study is to describe existing knowledge and standards, to create mathematical and statistical models of the behavior of materials in chemical baths, to prepare recipes in a laboratory environment, to verify procedures in production practice and to subject all results to extensive expert discussion.

We really hope for a lot from the whole project. It gives us space to understand in detail the chemical side of the processes carried out. Prepares materials for proposals for changes to standards and procedures. It will give us results that can be presented both to laymen (a simple explanation of the benefits of pickling and passivation) and to experts who want to expand their horizons in the matter. Above all, he will answer our questions about the cleaning and passivation of advanced duplex steels. If these are really the materials of the future, we want to be perfectly prepared for their surface treatment!