Detrimental corrosion is an ever-concerning challenge for metals and alloys. One possible remedy is to apply organic corrosion inhibitors. Despite progress in molecular assembly and inhibitor research, better mechanistic insight on the molecular level is needed. Here we report on the behavior of well-defined artificial molecular interfaces created by micro-contact printing of thiol-inhibitor molecules and subsequent backfilling. The obtained heterogeneity and defects trigger localized dealloying-corrosion of well-defined Cu₃Au surfaces. The stability of applied inhibitor molecules depends on alloy surface morphology and on intermolecular forces of the molecular layers. On extended terraces, dealloying preferentially starts at the boundary between areas composed of the two different chain-length inhibitor molecules. Inside of the areas hardly any nucleation of initial pits is visible. Step density strongly influences the morphology of the dealloying attack, while film heterogeneity avoids cracking and controls molecular-scale corrosion attack. The presented surface-science approach, moreover, will ultimately allow to verify the acting mechanisms of inhibitor-cocktails to develop recipes to stabilize metallic alloy surfaces.

有害腐蚀对金属和合金来说是一个始终令人担忧的挑战。一种可能的补救措施是使用有机腐蚀抑制剂。尽管在分子组装和抑制剂研究方面取得了进展，但仍需要在分子水平上更好地了解机理。在这里，我们报告了由硫醇抑制剂分子的微接触印刷和随后的回填创建的明确定义的人工分子界面的行为。获得的不均匀性和缺陷引发了明确定义的 Cu _{3 的}局部脱合金腐蚀金表面。施加的抑制剂分子的稳定性取决于合金表面形态和分子层的分子间作用力。在扩展的平台上，脱合金优先从由两种不同链长抑制剂分子组成的区域之间的边界开始。在区域内部几乎看不到任何初始凹坑的成核。台阶密度强烈影响脱合金侵蚀的形态，而薄膜异质性避免开裂并控制分子尺度腐蚀侵蚀。此外，所提出的表面科学方法将最终允许验证抑制剂鸡尾酒的作用机制，以开发稳定金属合金表面的配方。