Quantum Corrosion is an EPSRC Standard-Grant (EP/R005230/1, EP/R005419/1, UKRI) funded project to develop quantum-mechanical methods to model corrosion in technologically relevant materials.

In 2008 the annual financial cost to the UK arising from corrosion damage to metals was $70.6 billion. In addition to the financial cost, the threat of corrosion limits the range of materials that can be safely or reliably deployed. The principal reason why magnesium alloys are not as ubiquitous as the denser aluminium is their susceptibility to aqueous corrosion even in reasonably dry air. Titanium alloys are more corrosion resistant, but in the aerospace sector suffer stress corrosion cracking following degreasing in chlorine-containing agents, or even after handling by salty fingers! When titanium is used for medical implants, corrosion is a principal cause of failure; for example, localised wear of an implant exposes a small area of metal establishing a large anodic current density and localised metal wastage.