AI coatings with different microstructures were prepared on the surface of Gd using the magnetron sputtering technique to improve its corrosion resistance. The corrosion behaviors for the pure Gd and Gd with Al coating in distilled water were studied using the mass loss and electrochemical performance. As a result, pure Gd without coating shows a certain amount of surface cracks under water flow conditions, whereas the polygonal Al coating decreases the path of the corrosive medium to body due to the existence of eroding pits structure. Compared with the polygonal structure Al coating and pure Gd, the lamellar structure of Al coating exhibits a higher electrochemical protection performance （e.g., a lower corrosion current and higher self-corrosion potential） and no occurrence of pitting corrosion. Due to an effective physical shield, the formation of the lamellar structure protected the inner Gd part from being corroded, and prolonged the duration of cathodic protection.
Al-Zn-Si-RE coating with high Al content was deposited on mild steel by arc spraying. The electrochemical behavior of Al-Zn-Si-RE coating in 3.5%NaCl solution was systematically studied by potentiodynamic polarization, corrosion potential (φcor ) and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy techniques (EIS). The impedance data were fitted to appropriate equivalent circuits to explain the different electrochemical processes occurring at the electrode-electrolyte interface. The results indicate that Al-Zn-Si-RE coating reveals the similar polarization behavior as Zn-15Al coating. The coating has no passive region in the anodic polarization, but far lower corrosion current and much higher corrosion potential. Al-Zn-Si-RE coating provides effective sacrificial protection for steel substrate and the sacrificial anodic protection plays dominant role during the immersion process. In addition, theφcor evolution and EIS plots indicate that the corrosion process can be divided into five stages: pitting-dissolution-redeposition, activation corrosion, cathodic protection, physical barriers and the coating failure.
