Corrosion

Corrosion costs every economy and society dearly, and hence its effective and durable mitigation is of paramount importance. Given the age-old and vexing nature of the problem, numerous approaches and measures have been deployed for corrosion mitigation. However, the serious economic implications of corrosion continue to ensure interest in finding novel measures. Corrosion and corrosion-assisted cracking often stand out as critical and non-trivial challenges in applications ranging from the selection of construction materials for nuclear waste containers, desalination plants, or durable electronic devices to the use of magnesium alloys as novel biodegradable temporary implants. It is true that circumventing corrosion in such critical applications is technologically challenging, socially fulfilling, and commercially attractive, but it is equally true that a durable solution calls for a disruptive approach, which in itself is a non-trivial challenge (given the age-old nature of the discipline). The emergence of a new material often triggers interest in its applicability for corrosion resistance. The most recent examples include ultrathin coatings of graphene and hexa-boron nitride. Corrosion, as well as the science and technology of its mitigation, therefore, is like an antique: old but fascinating. The "Corrosion" section of Materials caters to the old as well as the new domains of corrosion mechanisms, monitoring, and mitigation.