CorroZoom: Cristoffer Leygraf “Atmospheric Corrosion in the Crossroads of Disciplines: A Five-Decade Scientific Journey.”

Atmospheric Corrosion at the Crossroads of Disciplines: A Five-Decade Scientific Journey
by Prof. Christofer Leygraf from KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm, Sweden

Abstract
This lecture provides an overview of fifty years of research on atmospheric corrosion—one of the most widespread, costly, and challenging forms of material degradation, with significant technical and societal impacts. The lecture follows the gradual development of knowledge and experimental approaches over time. The research began with long-term field exposure studies, which offered valuable real-world observations but limited insight into the underlying processes. To better understand how atmospheric corrosion actually develops, the work moved into the laboratory, where carefully designed experiments allowed individual factors to be studied in a more controlled way. Over time, these experiments evolved from simple test systems to more realistic environments, supported by advanced measurement techniques that made it possible to observe corrosion as it happened. In later stages, computational modelling was added to further support interpretation and prediction. Together, these efforts have led to a deeper and more reliable understanding of atmospheric corrosion and how it affects materials in everyday environments. The lecture concludes by highlighting the importance of interdisciplinary collaboration—bringing together expertise from materials science, chemistry, physics, and environmental science—to strengthen the field further and to meet future scientific and societal challenges.

Bio
Over a career spanning five decades, Christofer Leygraf, Professor Emeritus at KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm, Sweden, founded and led a leading research group covering a broad range of fundamental and applied aspects of atmospheric and aqueous corrosion. A central outcome of this work has been the development of a more molecular-level understanding of atmospheric corrosion, achieved through controlled laboratory and field studies, advanced modeling of key corrosion processes, and the application of state-of-the-art, surface-sensitive in situ analytical techniques. These efforts were further strengthened by interdisciplinary collaboration across physics, chemistry, materials science, and environmental science, as well as through numerous projects conducted in close partnership with Swedish and international industry.
Professor Leygraf has supervised or co-supervised approximately 50 PhD students and has maintained extensive international collaborations. He has held postdoctoral positions at the Karpov Institute of Physical Chemistry in Moscow (former USSR) and at the University of California, Berkeley, and has served as Visiting Professor at Yale University and at the State Key Laboratory for Corrosion and Protection, Chinese Academy of Sciences, in Shenyang. In 2014, he was appointed Honorary Professor at the University of Science and Technology Beijing.
He has authored more than 360 peer-reviewed publications, receiving approximately 19,000 citations (h-index 76, December 2025). He is the first author of the second edition of Atmospheric Corrosion (Wiley, 2016), which has been cited in more than one hundred countries. In recognition of these accomplishments, Christofer Leygraf is an elected member of the Swedish Academy of Engineering Sciences and has received several international awards, including the Herbert Uhlig Award (2003, ECS), Khwarizmi International Award (2006, Iran), Willis Rodney Whitney Award (2007, NACE), U.R. Evans Award (2009, Institute of Corrosion), European Corrosion Medal (2013, EFC), and Marcel Pourbaix Award (2017, ICC).

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