The goal of corrosion science is for materials to maintain their functionality in various – often aggressive – environments.

Most corrosion processes are of electrochemical nature – meaning redox processes with locally separated electrodes and an electrolyte that serves as medium for ion transport. In order to predict and prevent corrosion, it is necessary to understand how materials or material combinations behave in a specific environment. The challenge is to link observed corrosion phenomena, such as metal dissolution, scale formation and deterioration or delamination of protective layers, to their underlying reaction mechanisms. Electrochemical measurement methods coupled with locally resolved analytical techniques can provide insight into the causes and mechanisms of corrosion processes.

Another important task in corrosion protection research is developing methods (e.g., accelerated stress testing) to bridge the gap between laboratory experiments and real-world observations, which results from significant differences between laboratory and real-world conditions.

Our research in this field spans a variety of topics, such as the development of new corrosion protection layers or the investigation of electrochemical corrosion mechanisms. Further, we investigate transport phenomena like ion migration and diffusion in both liquid and solid phases to gain a better understanding of why methods for corrosion protection fail in practical applications.