Comparative Study of Corrosion Behaviors of WC-NiMo and WC-Co Cemented Carbides

In this paper, the influence of a nickel binder metal and molybdenum carbide as an additional alloying element on the microstructure and corrosion behavior of WC-based cemented carbides, processed by conventional powder metallurgy, was studied, and a comparison with conventional cemented carbide (WC-Co) was carried out. The sintered alloys were characterized, before and after corrosive tests, by analyses using optical microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, and X-ray diffraction. The corrosion resistance of the cemented carbides was investigated by open circuit potential, potentiodynamic polarization, and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy in a 3.5 wt.% NaCl solution. The WC-NiMo cemented carbides showed microstructures similar to those of WC-Co; however, pores and binder islands were observed in the microstructures. The corrosion tests showed promising results, the WC-NiMo cemented carbide showed superior corrosion resistance and higher passivation capacity than the WC-Co cemented carbide. The WC-NiMo alloy showed a higher EOC ≈-0.18 V vs. Ag|AgCl|KCl3mol/L than the WC-Co (EOC≈-0.45 V vs. Ag|AgCl|KCl3mol/L). The potentiodynamic polarization curves showed lower current density values throughout the potential range for the WC-NiMo alloy, and it was observed that E_corr was less negative (≈-0.416 V vs. Ag|AgCl|KCl3mol/L) than for WC-Co (≈-0.543 V vs. V vs. Ag|AgCl|KCl3mol/L). The EIS analysis confirmed low rate corrosion of WC-NiMo associated with the formation of a passive thin layer. This alloy showed a higher R_ct (1970.70 Ω).