1.

Introduction

Corrosion can be defined as the degradation of a material when it comes into contact with
the environment. This is because of metal oxidation. Metal corrosion is the main cause of metal
destruction due to the reaction of iron with oxygen to form rust by exposure to moist air. Iron
rust is iron oxide Fe2O3.XH2O where X is the amount of complex water with ferric oxide, which
can vary. It shows the colour of rust (black to yellow to orange). The first step of corrosion
processes is the oxidation of iron. First, the iron gets oxidized into ferrous ions (Fe2+) with the
loss of 2 electrons. The ferrous ions again get oxidized into ferric ions (Fe 3+) in the presence of
water and oxygen. The electrons released from the reaction are used to reduce oxygen. The ferric
ions combine with oxygen and form ferric oxide. This ferric oxide gets hydrated with water, thus
form rust. Rusting happens faster in moist condition. This process also affected by other factors
such as presence of salts, which will increase the rate of rusting, because the presence of salts
enhances the conductivity of the aqueous solution formed at the surface of the metal.

Galvanic corrosion is one of the types of corrosion that is usually occurred. This
corrosion is resulting from a metal contacting another conducting material in a corrosive
medium. Galvanic corrosion causes quick deterioration of the metals but it also may result in
corrosion protection of attached metal. This type of corrosion employed metals with a different
value of electrical potential. When they connected electrically and put in an electrolyte, the more
active metal which has a high negative potential becomes the anode. Due to its high potential, it
corrodes fast. But the less active metal becomes the cathode. The flow of electric current
continues until the potential between both electrodes become equal. At the joint where the two
non-similar metals meet, is where the galvanic corrosion occurs. There are numbers of
techniques used to combat corrosion, including design, coating, inhibitors, cathodic protection,
passivation, and material selection.

One of the common methods used to prevent corrosion is cathodic protection. Cathodic
protection is a common method of corrosion prevention employed in pipelines where the metal
behaves entirely as a cathode and hence corrosion is averted. In order to control the corrosion,
cathodic protection is applied to the areas of structure where coating may become damaged. It
can help to prolong the structures life. Examples of structures that use cathodic protection are
pipelines, storage tank bases, offshore platforms and so on. This method can be achieved in two
ways which are impressed voltage and sacrificial anode or galvanic cell.

In this experiment, we will be focusing on cathodic protection by using galvanic cell. A

metal which has a higher tendency to corrode, anodic from the electrochemical series, will be
coupled with the metal to be protected. The sacrificial anode corrodes and it will supplies
electrons to the metal, and thereby prevents an anode reaction at the metal (Mouanga et al.,
2013). The sacrificial anode is consumed and must eventually be replaced. For this experiment,
zinc (Zn) metal will be used as the sacrificial anode to protect iron (Fe) metal. Zinc is widely
used for corrosion protection of steel due to its redox potential being more negative than that of
steel under the same conditions, zinc deposits behave as sacrificial anodes and thus offer a
cathodic protection to the steel substrate (Mouanga et al., 2013).

3. Problem Statement

Corrosion has becoming a major problem in various industries that employed iron or steel
as a main component. These components will be damaged and corroded if they are not protected.
For example, unprotected pipelines, whether buried in the ground, exposed to the atmosphere, or
submerged in water, are susceptible to corrosion. Without proper maintenance, every pipeline
system will eventually deteriorate. Corrosion can weaken the structural integrity of a pipeline
and make it an unsafe vehicle for transporting potentially hazardous materials. The replacement
of damaged and corroded components may be costly. Other than metal pipelines, nails are one of
the most common example that experience corrosion and rusting. The rusting of nails can cause
negative impact to the building constructions or even worse, it can cause adverse health effect to
human. Cathodic protection is one of the approaches to control the corrosion problem and this
method can be applied to the steel or iron structure of the components. Besides, it is a cost
effective method since relatively cheap materials are used. Cathodic protection can help prevent
corrosion from starting and help to stop existing corrosion from getting worse.