This Engineering Faculty Internships (EFI) project supports the collaboration of Professor Richard E. Riman with scientists at EniChem on the preparation and study of silicon carbide passivation layers. Methodologies for characterization of the silicon carbide layers and the modified layers after exposure to chemical processing environments will be developed. Additional work will focus on the establishment of surface chemistry models that describe major reactions. The EFI program enriches the background of college faculty to make them more effective teachers and encourages them to contribute their expertise to the aid of industry. Corrosion shortens the functional lifetime of much industrial equipment and increases costs to society. Protective coatings like silicon carbide might mitigate substantially the deleterious effects of corrosion.
