A quick short look at Chromium

Chromium: All that you need to know

Commonly known as chrome, it is one of the most important and indispensable industrial metals because of its
hardness and resistance to corrosion. The element chromium has the symbol Cr. Chromium is the 24th element in
the periodic table and it is found in about 0.0122% of the Earth's crust. Chromite, an oxide of iron, magnesium,
aluminium, and chromium, is the only ore mineral of chromium. The world's largest chromite deposits are in South
Africa. Its major application in the production of stainless steel and nonferrous alloys

Periodic table.

It is a transition metal. Chromium is the main additive in stainless steel, to which it adds anti-corrosive properties.
Chromium is an extremely hard metal that takes a high polish. Chromium metal left standing in the air is
passivated, i.e. forms a thin, protective, surface layer of oxide. This layer has a few atomic layers thick. It is very
dense and inhibits the diffusion of oxygen into the underlying metal. In contrast, iron forms a more porous oxide
through which oxygen can migrate, causing continued rusting. Metal chromium exists in two oxidation states Cr (III)
and Cr (VI). Cr (III) ions are not considered toxic, hexavalent chromium, Cr (VI) is both toxic and carcinogenic.
To summarize, Chromium has two important properties
[1] Hardness and [2] Corrosion protection
Hardness of chromium

Chromium is the third hardest element

after carbon (diamond) and boron.
What makes metal hard?
Hardness is a measure of the resistance to
localized deformation. Some metals are
harder than others. Macroscopic
hardness is generally characterized by
strong intermolecular bonds. The key to
understanding the mechanism behind
hardness is understanding the metallic
microstructure, or the structure and
arrangement of the atoms at the atomic
level.
What makes chromium hard
Chromium has strong metallic bonds and that makes chromium very hard.
Metallic bond
A metallic bond is the sharing of many detached electrons between many positive ions, where the electrons act as a
"glue" giving the substance a definite structure.

Positive Chromium ions

Mechanism
Metals have low ionization energy. Therefore, the valence
electrons are delocalized throughout the metals. Delocalized
electrons are not associated with a particular nucleus of a metal,
instead, they are free to move throughout the whole crystalline
structure forming a "sea" of electrons. The electrons and the
positive ions in the metal have a strong attractive force between
them and that gives strength to metallic bonds. Literally, atoms
are enveloped within a sea of electrons, please see the left side
image. How strong a metal bond would be would depend on
how many free electrons the atom possesses to form metal
bonds.
Positive Cr ions enveloped by sea of electrons

Why chromium is so hard

Coming back to why Chromium is so hard, the reason is chromium has five unpaired delocalized electrons moving
freely throughout the crystal structure of chromium forming a sea of electrons around chromium atoms holding
chromium ions by strong attractive forces.

Passivation and corrosion protection by chromium

Passivation by chromium involves oxygen combining with chromium to create a film of chromium oxide (Cr2O3) on
the surface. The inner part is a compact layer consisting of mainly Cr2O3 and an outer hydroxide layer. In a BCC
lattice, like iron, every atom has eight nearest neighbours. In a solid solution of iron and chromium, one needs at
least 1 atom in 8 to be chromium to form a continuous network of chromium in the metal matrix. The ratio 1/8 =
12.5 at% corresponds to practical findings, where the corrosion rate is found to drop significantly at an alloy content
of about 12%. Above 18%, Chromium gives a continuous protective chromium oxide layer.
Iron oxides in carbon steel Vs Chromium oxides stainless steel
In short, the size of iron hydroxide oxide, the corrosion product of iron is much bigger than the size of the iron
atom. So, when iron oxidizes by red-ox reaction the corrosion products are bigger in volume than an iron atom and
they flake out. Iron atoms cannot accommodate these bulky oxides in their network. The net result is iron oxide
forms a porous layer on the surface and opens the path for the diffusion of oxygen and corrosion.
Chromium in the stainless-steel combines with oxygen in the atmosphere to form a thin invisible, transparent, self-
healing passive layer (Cr2O3). The size of chromium atoms and their oxides is similar, so they pack neatly together
on the surface of the metal, forming a stable layer only a few atoms thick. Chromium oxide, therefore,
accommodated on the SS surface and they fit into space neatly packing with chromium atoms and thereby
completely protecting oxidation sites.