The effect of cold rolling temperature on grain boundary characteristic of the 304 austenitic stainless steels in thermomechanical treatment was examined. Comparing to cold rolling at room temperature and annealing, the cryogenic cold deformation and annealing promoted grain refinement and reduced fraction of coincidence site lattice. Although more coincidence site lattice restrained sensitization, the grain refinement accelerated sensitization. The sensitization deteriorated corrosion resistance of 304 austenitic stainless steel obtained by thermomechanical treatment. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.