Roger C. Newman

Awards and Memberships

• 1994 Fellow of the Institute of Materials (UK)
• 1994 Third triennial Helmuth Fischer Medal of DECHEMA (Frankfurt) for ‘outstanding contributions to fundamental aspects of electrochemistry relevant to corrosion’
• 1997 Fellow of NACE International
• 1998 T.P. Hoar Prize of the Institute of Corrosion (best paper in Corrosion Science during 1997; jointly with N.J. Laycock)
• 2001 W.R. Whitney Award of NACE International
• 2003 U.R. Evans Award of the Institute of Corrosion, Honorary Life Fellow of the Institute
• 2003 T.P. Hoar Prize of the Institute of Corrosion (best paper in Corrosion Science during 2002; jointly with P. Ernst)
• 2004 H.H. Uhlig Award of the Corrosion Division of the Electrochemical Society.
• 2007 T.P. Hoar Prize of the Institute of Corrosion (best paper in Corrosion Science during 2006; jointly with M.H. Moayed)
• 2007 Member of the Scientific Advisory Board of the Max Planck Institute for Iron and Steel Research
• 2008 Member of the National Academies ROCSE (Research Opportunities in Corrosion Science and Engineering) committee, Washington, DC
• 2010 Fellow of Electrochemical Society

Research Opportunities

Postdoctoral Fellow Opportunities

Note: Candidates expected to work in a couple of different areas.

1. NSERC-UNENE Alliance grant – Corrosion Control and Materials Performance in Nuclear Power Systems (joint with Suraj Persaud, Queen’s University) – 1 or 2 positions
2. NSERC-NWMO Alliance grant – Copper Corrosion Mechanisms and Prediction (joint with Queen’s University and faculty in MSE) – 1 position
3. Qatar National Research Fund – Towards Science-Based Maps for Stress Corrosion Cracking (collaborative with Shell engineers) – partial position
4. Applications of Nanoporous Metals to Sensing and Catalysis – partial position

Research Interests

Corrosion and Protection of Metals

Corrosion is not only one of the most costly forms of material degradation – it also offers a fertile area of interdisciplinary research, and can even be harnessed to make useful products such as metallic nanostructures.

A particular concern is the mechanical rupture of components due to stress corrosion cracking – the slow growth of cracks in a reactive environment. Stress corrosion failure is at the core of safety and risk analyses in several industries, including nuclear power generation. By understanding corrosion and stress corrosion mechanisms at the microscopic scale, not only can corrosion problems be mitigated, but insights can be obtained that are relevant to surprisingly remote areas of science and technology.

The main fundamental research theme of the group is the role of alloying elements in the corrosion performance of alloys. On one level, this is an atomistic issue. Computer simulation and advanced surface characterization are used to understand the dissolution, oxidation, and motion (by surface diffusion) of particular elements. Electrochemical techniques play an essential role in monitoring the kinetics of metal dissolution across semi-protective surface layers consisting of less-reactive metals and/or oxides. Molecular adsorption can be used to further modify or probe events at the interface. Relevant timescales range from seconds, in the case of an event occurring at the tip of a crack, to thousands of years, in the case of alloys used for containment of high-level nuclear waste. Alongside these atomistic considerations lies the recognition that localized corrosion of metals is an autocatalytic or coupled reaction-transport process in which the dissolution products acidify the local solution. Thus modelling skills are required to elucidate stability criteria and morphology development in localized corrosion sites; the morphologies and patterns that form deterministically in such sites are surprisingly rich.

In parallel to this underlying research programme there is vigorous activity in support of the Canadian nuclear power industry. Issues in steam-generator corrosion, waste storage and reactor component performance are being defined and offered as student projects in collaboration with industrial partners. Other industries with current corrosion issues include pulp and paper, oil and gas, and automotive, amongst others. Recently we have developed an activity in the prediction and monitoring of corrosion of steel reinforcement in concrete.

Curious nanoscale morphologies occur when elements are selectively dissolved (de-alloyed) from metallic alloys. Depending on the alloy system, the pore and ligament sizes in the resulting nanoporous structure may be stable at the 2-3 nm level, or may be coarsened in a controlled manner to hundreds or even thousands of nm, without losing the connectivity of the structure. Such materials have potential as membranes, templates, catalysts, sensor substrates, and high-surface-area electrodes, with applications in many areas such as biomedical technology, fuel cells, and filtration.

Sensor development is a natural extension of corrosion research, with common electrochemical themes. Work is proceeding on thin-film PEM-based hydrogen sensors, and sensors for deleterious metallurgical conditions in alloys, such as sigma phase in duplex stainless steels.

Selected Publications Since 2015

A. F. Ebrahimy, B. Langelier, and R.C. Newman, Probing the surface chemistry of nanoporous gold via electrochemical characterization and Atom Probe Tomography. Nanomaterials, 11, 1002 (2021).

V.A. Nguyen and R.C. Newman, A comprehensive modelling and experimental approach to study the diffusion-controlled dissolution in pitting corrosion. Corrosion Science, 186, 109461 (2021).

Y. Xie, D.M. Artymowicz, P.P. Lopes, A. Aiello, D. Wang, J.L. Hart, E. Anber, M.L. Taheri, H. Zhuang, R.C. Newman, and K. Sieradzki, A percolation theory for designing corrosion-resistant alloys. Nature Materials, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41563-021-00920-9 (2021).

A. Ashrafriahi, A.F. Ebrahimy, V. Ramsundar, A. Korinek, and R.C. Newman, New insights into the stress corrosion cracking of carbon steel in ethanolic media. Materials and Corrosion, 72, 517 (2021).

A.A. El-Zoka, B. Langelier, G.A. Botton, and R.C. Newman, Morphological evolution of Pt-modified nanoporous gold after thermal coarsening in reductive and oxidative environments. npj Materials Degradation, 4, 40 (2020).

A.A. El-Zoka, S.H. Kim, S. Deville, R.C. Newman, L.T. Stephenson, and B. Gault, Enabling near-atomic–scale analysis of frozen water. Science Advances, 6(49), eabd6324 (2020).

A.F. Ebrahimy, B. Langelier, and R.C. Newman, Atom probe tomography of nanoporous gold formed by dealloying lean noble alloys. Materials Today Communications, 25, 101371 (2020).

A.F. Ebrahimy, I.A. Hermoso-Diaz, and R.C. Newman, Electrochemical study of S and Pb adsorption on Ni in aqueous acidic media. Corrosion Science, 175, 108878 (2020).

A. Ashrafriahi, A. Foroozan, M. Ghaznavi, A. Seifitokaldani, and R.C. Newman, DFT analysis of ethanol electro-oxidation on Fe(110) and Fe3C(110) and its correlation with the stress corrosion cracking of carbon steel. J. Electrochem. Soc., 167, 111503 (2020).

T.S.B. Wong and R.C. Newman, A novel application of nanoporous gold to humidity sensing: a framework for a general volatile compound sensor. Nanoscale Advances, 2, 777 (2020).

T.S.B. Wong and R.C. Newman, Nanoporous gold as a VOC sensor, based on nanoscale electrical phenomena and convolutional Neural Networks. Sensors, 20, 2851 (2020).

Y. Ghaffari, K. Daub, R.C. Newman, and S.Y. Persaud, Internal oxidation of Ag-xIn alloys at low homologous temperature. Corrosion Science, 175, 108869 (2020).

A.A. El-Zoka, J.Y. Howe, R.C. Newman, and D.D. Perovic, In situ STEM/SEM study of the coarsening of nanoporous gold. Acta Materialia, 162, 67 (2019).

N.A. Senior, R.C. Newman, D. Artymowicz, W.J. Binns, P.G. Keech, and D.S. Hall, A method to measure extremely low corrosion rates of copper metal in anoxic aqueous media. J. Electrochem. Soc., 166, C3015 (2019).

S.Y. Persaud, M. Smith, and R.C. Newman, Nanoscale precursor sites and their importance in the prediction of stress corrosion cracking failure. Corrosion, 75, 228 (2019).

V.A. Nguyen, A.G. Carcea, M. Ghaznavi, and R.C. Newman, The effect of cation complexation on the predicted “B” Value in Galvele’s pit model. J. Electrochem. Soc., 166, C3297 (2019).

V.A. Nguyen, A.G. Carcea, M. Ghaznavi, and R.C. Newman, Status of Pitting Corrosion Prediction in Mixed Solutions Containing Reduced Sulfur Species, in Advances in Electrochemical Techniques for Corrosion Monitoring and Laboratory Corrosion Measurements, S. Papavinasam, et al., Editors. ASTM International: West Conshohocken, PA, 280 (2019).

A.A. El-Zoka, B. Langelier, A. Korinek, G.A. Botton, and R.C. Newman, Nanoscale mechanism of the stabilization of nanoporous gold by alloyed platinum. Nanoscale, 10, 4904 (2018).

A.A. El-Zoka, B. Langelier, A. Korinek, G.A. Botton, and R.C. Newman, Advances in nanoscale characterization of refined nanoporous gold. Electrochim. Acta, 283, 611 (2018).

A.A. El-Zoka, J. Howe, P. Brodersen, D.D. Perovic, and R.C. Newman, In situ STEM/SEM study of Thermal Coarsening of Pt-modified Nanoporous Gold in Oxygen and Hydrogen. Microscopy and Microanalysis, 24(S1), 1946 (2018).

S.Y. Persaud, J.M. Smith, C.D. Judge, M. Bryk, R.C. Newman, M.G. Burke, I. de Curieres, B.M. Capell, and M.D. Wright, Using Modern Microscopy to “Fingerprint” Secondary Side SCC in Ni-Fe Alloys, in Proceedings of the 18th International Conference on Environmental Degradation of Materials in Nuclear Power Systems – Water Reactors, Vol 2, J.H. Jackson, D. Paraventi, and M. Wright, Editors, 1205 (2018), Springer.

S.Y. Persaud, B. Langelier, A. Korinek, S. Ramamurthy, G.A. Botton, and R.C. Newman, Characterization of initial intergranular oxidation processes in alloy 600 at a sub-nanometer scale. Corrosion Science, 133, 36 (2018).

A.A. El-Zoka, B. Langelier, G.A. Botton, and R.C. Newman, Enhanced analysis of nanoporous gold by atom probe tomography. Materials Characterization, 128, 269 (2017).

B. Langelier, S.Y. Persaud, A. Korinek, T. Casagrande, R.C. Newman, and G.A. Botton, Effects of boundary migration and pinning particles on intergranular oxidation revealed by 2D and 3D analytical electron microscopy. Acta Materialia, 131, 280 (2017).

D. Artymowicz, C. Bradley, B. Xing, and R.C. Newman, Adhesion of Oxides Grown in Supercritical Water on Selected Austenitic and Ferritic/Martensitic Alloys. ASME. ASME Journal of Nuclear Engineering and Radiation Science. 3(2): 021006 (2017).

J. Ulaganathan, A.G. Carcea, R.C. Newman, R.I. Barabash, and N.S. McIntyre, Mapping of changes in microscopic strain in Alloy 600 during multi-step applications of mechanical stress. Surface and Interface Analysis, 49, 1442 (2017).

R. Swift, W. Cook, C. Bradley, and R.C. Newman, Validation of Constant Load C-Ring Apex Stresses for Stress Corrosion Cracking Testing in Supercritical Water. Journal of Nuclear Engineering and Radiation Science, 3(2), 021004 (2017).

A.A. El-Zoka, J. Howe, R.C. Newman, S. Dogel, M. Reynolds, H. Hosseinkhannazer, and D.D. Perovic, Understanding the coarsening behaviors of nanoporous gold via in situ heating. Microscopy and Microanalysis, 22(S3), 1968 (2016).

A.A. Vega and R.C. Newman, Methanol electro-oxidation on nanoporous metals formed by dealloying of Ag-Au-Pt alloys. J. Appl. Electrochem., 46, 995 (2016).

B. Langelier, S.Y. Persaud, R.C. Newman, and G.A. Botton, An atom probe tomography study of internal oxidation processes in Alloy 600. Acta Materialia, 109, 55 (2016).

S.Y. Persaud, J. Smith, A. Korinek, G.A. Botton, and R.C. Newman, High resolution analysis of oxidation in Ni-Fe-Cr alloys after exposure to 315 degrees C deaerated water with added hydrogen. Corrosion Science, 106, 236 (2016).

S.Y. Persaud, S. Ramamurthy, A. Korinek, G.A. Botton, and R.C. Newman, The influence of the high Fe and Cr contents of Alloy 800 on its inter and intragranular oxidation tendency in 480 degrees C hydrogenated steam. Corrosion Science, 106, 117 (2016).

S.Y. Persaud and R.C. Newman, A review of oxidation phenomena in Ni alloys exposed to hydrogenated steam below 500 degrees C. Corrosion, 72, 881 (2016).

N.S. McIntyre, J. Ulaganathan, T. Simpson, J. Qin, N. Sherry, A.G. Carcea, R.C. Newman, M. Kunz, and N. Tamura, Microscopic cracking on flat alloy 600 surfaces following accelerated caustic corrosion: Mapping of strains and microstructure during the corrosion process. Corrosion, 71, 65 (2015).

S.Y. Persaud, S. Ramamurthy, and R.C. Newman, Internal oxidation of alloy 690 in hydrogenated steam. Corrosion Science, 90, 606 (2015).

S.Y. Persaud, S. Ramamurthy, and R.C. Newman, The effect of weld chemistry on the oxidation of Alloy 82 dissimilar metal welds. Corrosion Science, 91, 58 (2015).

S.Y. Persaud, A.G. Carcea, and R.C. Newman, An electrochemical study assisting the interpretation of acid sulfate stress corrosion cracking of NiCrFe alloys. Corrosion Science, 90, 383 (2015).

W. Zhang, A.G. Carcea, and R.C. Newman, Pitting of steam-generator tubing alloys in solutions containing thiosulfate and sulfate or chloride. Faraday Discussions, 180, 233 (2015).