Protective scale formation for low and high temperature environments
remains a key materials challenge to the successful implementation and
advancement of energy production and related technologies. In keeping with
the theme of the 2004 European Federation of Corrosion conference on
‘Novel Approaches to the Improvement of High Temperature Corrosion
Resistance’, this chapter will put forward some thoughts on how coatings or
surface modification can alter near-surface composition and microstructure
in potentially beneficial ways to achieve corrosion resistance using principles
of gas–metal reactions. Extrapolation of these concepts to functional
applications will also be discussed. This is the third in a series of related
works focusing on design strategies for oxidation/corrosion resistance and
the control of surface chemistry for functional applications [1,2]. These
works are not meant to be an exhaustive compilation of established approaches
or a rigorous discussion of various oxidation mechanisms; rather, they speculate
on some concepts and highlight some preliminary experimental
phenomenological observations that show potential for possible future
development.