Real-Time Tribocorrosion Testing at TU Wien: A Case Study Using Advent Platinum Wire

Researchers at the Vienna University of Technology (TU Wien) have developed a new way to study tribocorrosion in real time. Their method, reported in the Journal of The Electrochemical Society (2025), shows how metal surfaces behave the moment they are scratched and how their protective layers rebuild. Advent Research Materials supplied the high-purity platinum wire used as the counter electrode in the tests, forming part of a controlled and reliable electrochemical setup.

This work is relevant to anyone studying corrosion, wear, or surface performance in the lab, especially those who rely on high-quality electrochemical materials and want to understand the next generation of testing methods.

What were the researchers trying to measure?

Tribocorrosion is the combined effect of wear and corrosion. A metal surface is scratched or rubbed, and at the same time it dissolves due to its environment. For researchers, the challenge is that these processes happen quickly and influence one another. Traditional testing only captures the result, not the moment it occurs.

The team at TU Wien wanted a way to:

• damage a metallic surface during electrochemical testing
• track the dissolved material the instant it is released
• compare how different alloys recover after damage
• understand why some steels restore their protective layer while others fail

A key part of the work was measuring how quickly the protective film rebuilt after damage.

The study showed that alloys with ≥12% chromium repassivated reliably, while lower-chromium samples could not form a stable film under mixed wear and corrosion.

Their aim was simple but powerful: give researchers a clear and immediate view of what happens at the surface when mechanical and electrochemical forces combine.

How did they solve it?

The group built a modified electrochemical flow cell capable of scratching the sample surface in situ. As the scratch formed, the dissolved material flowed directly into an ICP-MS, which measured iron and chromium at very low concentrations.

To keep the electrochemical conditions stable, the setup used a three-electrode arrangement, including a 99.99% purity platinum wire from Advent Research Materials as the counter electrode. The platinum wire provided the reliability needed for repeatable measurements across multiple trials.

The result is a method that gives researchers the ability to connect scratch events, dissolution spikes, and oxide-film recovery in a single continuous dataset.

Why does this matter to researchers and industry?

The technique gives practical insights that test methods often miss. For example:

• Stainless steels with 12% chromium or more could rebuild a stable protective layer after scratching.
• Alloys below that threshold continued dissolving and failed to stabilise.
• The method could separate ionic dissolution from mechanical particle release.
• Repassivation after mechanical damage followed fast, measurable kinetics.

These findings are useful for anyone selecting alloys for components that face sliding contact, abrasion, or fluid exposure. It provides a way to compare materials under realistic, mixed-mechanism conditions.

What can the method be used for?

Researchers working in the following areas may find the approach valuable:

• corrosion science
• electrochemical surface engineering
• tribology
• alloy development
• materials testing for manufacturing, energy, food processing, or chemical handling equipment

The method offers a practical way to:

• assess alloy stability under combined wear and corrosion
• compare the effect of chromium content
• study protective-film repair after damage
• support the development of corrosion-resistant surfaces

For labs running electrochemical platforms, the study is also a reminder that reliable electrodes matter. Stable counter electrodes support clear results, especially when corrosion rates or dissolution events are small.

Read the full study 

For researchers who want the underlying data and methodology, the full paper—A Novel In Situ Scratching EC-ICP-MS Setup for Real Time Monitoring of Tribocorrosion and Repassivation Dynamics—is available open access in the Journal of The Electrochemical Society. It provides full instrument parameters, alloy comparisons, kinetics, and supporting COMSOL models. https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1149/1945-7111/ada9d7

Citation:
L. Kalchgruber, L. L. E. Mears, H. Handerkas, M. Hahn, M. Rester, C. Weissensteiner, and M. Valtiner, A Novel In Situ Scratching EC-ICP-MS Setup for Real Time Monitoring of Tribocorrosion and Repassivation Dynamics, Journal of The Electrochemical Society, 172 (2025) 021502.