Enhanced the SRB corrosion resistance of 316L stainless steel via adjusting the addition of Cu and Ce elements

316L stainless steel (SS) is the key raw material for the preparation of high-performance oil and gas pipelines, but even 316L with excellent properties will be attacked by sulfate-reducing bacteria (SRB) corrosion. Excellent antibacterial effects have been obtained in other SS systems by doping antibacterial elements. However, the current research on the preparation of antibacterial 316L SS is not comprehensive, and the quantitative analysis of the antibacterial mechanism and doping elements is still unclear. In this paper, the SS with Cu and Ce added were prepared by vacuum induction melting. Then the homogenization treatment combined with hot rolling was used to improve the structure segregation and mechanical properties. Further, the weight loss tests and electrochemical tests were conducted to evaluate the corrosion resistance of SS, the corrosion products and morphology were analysed, and the deformation structure was characterized to clarify the corrosion mechanism of the modified SS and quantify the doping elements. The results indicate that the microstructure after homogenization is mainly austenite, and with the increase of Ce content, the Ce-rich phase segregates. The inhibitory effect of Cu on SRB can be explained by the destructive effect of Cu ions on cell membranes. On this basis, adding a low content of Ce element can increase the permeability of the SRB cell wall and further enhance the attack effect of Cu ions on the cell membrane. The corrosion behavior of alloys shows the deformation structure dependence, with crystal defects and segregation increasing the corrosion rate. The optimal addition amount of Ce is 0.18 wt%, and the strength and elongation of SS are 511.18 MPa and 108.2%, respectively.