ProfessorMike Yongjun Tan

Mike Yongjun Tan is Professor of Applied Electrochemistry and Corrosion Technologies. His research has consistently focused on heterogeneous electrochemistry, corrosion science and engineering, materials degradation with particular interest in the following topics:
1. Electrochemical heterogeneity and heterogeneous electrode processes: Extending classic electrochemical theories and methods from an ideally homogeneous electrode to practical heterogeneous electrodes. Probing electrochemical heterogeneity as a critical factor affecting localised electrode processes such as localised corrosion, local coating and surface film breakdown, nonuniform electrodeposition/electrodissolution, electrochemical noise and non-ideal behaviour in polarisation curves, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy and voltammetry. 
2. Electrochemical methods for probing heterogeneous electrode processes: Developing and applying innovative electrochemical methods for characterising dynamic and complex heterogeneous electrode processes with enhanced spatial and temporal resolutions. In particular he has proposed and developed an approach to extending classic electrochemical theories and methods to heterogeneous electrodes [see Tan, YJ, Heterogeneous Electrode Processes and Localized Corrosion, Wiley, 2012]. 
3. Controlling localised corrosion and materials degradation in industry: Developing new inhibitors and methods such as localised corrosion inhibitors and closed-loop cathodic protection technology to mitigate waterline corrosion, crevice corrosion, corrosion under insulation, erosion corrosion, under-deposit corrosion, hydrogen permeation in steels etc. [see Tan MYJ, Localised Corrosion in Complex Environments, Wiley 2023].
 
Professor Tan pioneered the electrochemically integrated multi-electrode array method - frequently referred to as the wire beam electrode or coupled multielectrode array, which is now a globally used electrochemical method in localised corrosion and electrochemical heterogeneity studies and has been used for corrosion monitoring in industry and for closed-loop control cathodic protection. He also derived equations to extend classic electrochemical theory and methods to heterogeneous electrode processes especially localised corrosion. He is an AMPP Fellow that was awarded ‘in recognition of distinguished contributions in the field of corrosion and its prevention’. He actively engaged with the Australia’s energy pipelines, future fuels and offshore infrastructure industries, and served as a Program Leader for the Energy Pipelines Cooperative Research Centre (EPCRC) in its “Extension of Safe Operating Life of New and Existing Energy Pipelines” research program. He has led more than 30 major research projects over the past decade to address critical engineering issues that affect the reliability and durability of underground pipelines and offshore oil & gas infrastructures. These include major research projects for the Energy Pipelines CRC (FFCRC, 14 projects), the Future Fuels CRC (12 projects), National Centre of Excellence in desalination Australia (1 project), National Energy Resources Australia through its National Decommissioning Research Initiative (1 project), Australian Research Council (DP and Linkage, 2 projects), Australia's economic accelerator program (1 project), and various other industry funded research projects. He has led the establishment of the National Facility for Pipeline Coating Assessment (NFPCA), which has won a CRC innovation award and acquired NATA accreditation. Results from these research projects have included the review and subsequent revision of the Australian Cathodic Protection Standard AS2832.1 criterion for cathodic protection of pipelines subject to stray current; a revision of AS4853 of the test voltage applied to pipeline coating; the development of a real time remote monitoring system of pipeline corrosion rates.

Professor Tan is also the Editor-in-Chief of the international journal, Corrosion Engineering, Science and Technology (British Corrosion Journal), and a Board member of the Australasian Corrosion Association. He has developed and taught educational and training courses including ‘Materials Performance and Durability’, ‘Corrosion Engineering’, 'Applied Chemistry', ‘Corrosion Chemistry’ and ‘Flowline Corrosion’ during his various academic appointments.

Research Groups
Postdoctoral fellows / Research Engineer:
* Dr Jianyu Xiong, Research Engineer and Facility Manager, Energy pipeline coating research and assessment projects
* Dr Facundo (Bob) Varela, Research Fellow supported by FFCRC and Deakin University
* Dr Ying Huo, Research Fellow supported by FFCRC and Deakin University
* Dr Majid Laleh, the Alfred Deakin Postdoctoral Research Fellow supported by Deakin University, conducting a research project entitled 'Additive Manufacturing for Superior Corrosion Resistance'

Current and recent PhD students
* Sha Ji, Multifunctional coatings (supported by ARC)
* Sara Falahat, Hydrogen embrittlement of addiditively manufactured metals and alloys (supported by Deakin University and FFCRC)
* Peng Zhang, Hydrogen embrittlement of future fuels / hydrogen pipeline steels (supported by FFCRC)
* Mauricio (Max) Leonel Latino, Understanding cathodic shielding and corrosion under disbonded coatings (support by an EPCRC scholarship)
* Ke Wang, Corrosion sensing and detection technology methods (support by an EPCRC scholarship)
* Majid Laleh, Understanding passivity and its breakdown processes (supported by a Deakin University scholarship)
* Yunze Xu, Erosion corrosion sensor technology, (supported by a Chinese Scholarship Council scholarship)
* Aifang Amy Wei, Protecting concrtet structure corrosion by carbon fibres (supported by a Deakin University industry scholarship)
* Reza Parvizi, Understanding heterogeneous electrode processes (supported by a Deakin University scholarship)
* Fariba Mahdavi, A fundamental electrochemical on organic coating disbondment (support by an EPCRC scholarship)
* Shyama Ranade, The detection and measurement of the initiation and propagation of pipeline coating damage under various environmental and cathodic protection conditions (support by an EPCRC scholarship)

Masters project and Honours students, approximately 10-20/year, for example,

* Moayad Alsulaiman, Corrosion testing of cooling water systems (4th year mechanical engineering student project, with Prof Bruce Hinton)
* Robarte Theyers, Simulating crevice corrosion in seawater desalination environments (4th year engineering student project, with J Xiong)
* Mohamed Al Qubaisi, Underground corrosion and cathodic protection the effect of stray currents (4th year engineering student project, with Y Huo and R Gupta)
* Tong Wang, Rare earth metal compounds as corrosion inhibitors for Al 5xxx (4th year engineering student project, with M. Forsyth and R Gupta) Hussain AlomoratModeling galvanic corrosion of metals (Principal Supervisor: Subrat Das)
* Thomas Hallifax-Ballinger, Modelling pipeline coating flexibility testing (Summer scholarship project, and EPCRC Research Assistant funds)