IMPORTANT CORROSION CONCEPTS TO REMEMBER

CORROSION - an undesirable degradation of a material resulting from a chemical reaction

with the environment.

A. Concept of the Half Cell Reaction

ALL corrosion reactions involve “redox” (reduction/oxidation) reactions of one sort or

another. ALL corrosion reactions involve both a reduction and an oxidation

oxidation = loss of e-, an anodic reaction which occurs at sites called anodes

reduction = gain of e-, a cathodic reaction which occurs at sites called cathodes

An oxidation cannot occur without a corresponding reduction, and vice versa,

a reduction cannot occur without a corresponding oxidation.

B. The EMF Series is a list of “standard” half cell potentials.

Standard refers to unit activities (concentrations) of all reacting species.

Note that 2H+ + 2e- → H2 has a half cell potential of zero volts!

This half cell is assigned a value of zero simply as a matter of reference.

Absolute values of half cell potentials cannot be obtained.
Only potential differences can be measured with a voltmeter.

C. The Galvanic Series is similar to the EMF Series, except that:

1. The Galvanic Series is for metals and alloys.

2. The Galvanic Series is for a specific electrolyte (usually seawater).
3. The Galvanic Series lists corrosion potentials (Ecorr) and not half cell potentials.

D. Corrosion reactions can be predicted simply by examining the relative position of the
individual half cells in the EMF Series or the alloys in the Galvanic Series.

In the EMF series:

The more noble (cathodic) half cell reaction will be the cathode.
The more active (anodic) half cell reaction will be the anode.
In the Galvanic series:
The more noble (cathodic) alloy will be the cathode.
The more active (anodic) alloy will be the anode.