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Passivation of stainless steel
The term passivation is commonly used for the formation of a protective oxide layer on the surface of the steel. This training can be stimulated by the surrounding environment.
Air passivation is a slow process that takes many days to give a sufficient layer.
Passivation in this case can also be uneven due to the different conditions in which the material is stored, temperature, atmospheric humidity etc …
This explains the importance of acting on the piece with a chemical passivation treatment that stimulates the steel to have a homogeneous passive layer in a short time.
The procedure consists of the use of chemical solutions in which the piece to be passivated is immersed, here too there are gel or paste solutions to be given by brush or spray pump for the same reason as pickling.
Here, after a residence time of at least three hours, the piece must be rinsed with plenty of cold water sprayed under pressure.
This is a good chemical treatment cycle for stainless steel after any processing of the product.
After doing all this process: greasing, pickling, passivation, we will get a good stainless product. This does not mean that this artifact will no longer oxidize over time, because everything will depend on the environment in which it will work. Environments as we said before, brackish with the presence of chlorine etc … will greatly affect the aesthetic durability of the product.