Skip to main content
Engineering LibreTexts

9.5: Summary

  • Page ID
    8224
  • \( \newcommand{\vecs}[1]{\overset { \scriptstyle \rightharpoonup} {\mathbf{#1}} } \) \( \newcommand{\vecd}[1]{\overset{-\!-\!\rightharpoonup}{\vphantom{a}\smash {#1}}} \)\(\newcommand{\id}{\mathrm{id}}\) \( \newcommand{\Span}{\mathrm{span}}\) \( \newcommand{\kernel}{\mathrm{null}\,}\) \( \newcommand{\range}{\mathrm{range}\,}\) \( \newcommand{\RealPart}{\mathrm{Re}}\) \( \newcommand{\ImaginaryPart}{\mathrm{Im}}\) \( \newcommand{\Argument}{\mathrm{Arg}}\) \( \newcommand{\norm}[1]{\| #1 \|}\) \( \newcommand{\inner}[2]{\langle #1, #2 \rangle}\) \( \newcommand{\Span}{\mathrm{span}}\) \(\newcommand{\id}{\mathrm{id}}\) \( \newcommand{\Span}{\mathrm{span}}\) \( \newcommand{\kernel}{\mathrm{null}\,}\) \( \newcommand{\range}{\mathrm{range}\,}\) \( \newcommand{\RealPart}{\mathrm{Re}}\) \( \newcommand{\ImaginaryPart}{\mathrm{Im}}\) \( \newcommand{\Argument}{\mathrm{Arg}}\) \( \newcommand{\norm}[1]{\| #1 \|}\) \( \newcommand{\inner}[2]{\langle #1, #2 \rangle}\) \( \newcommand{\Span}{\mathrm{span}}\)\(\newcommand{\AA}{\unicode[.8,0]{x212B}}\)

    In this package:

    • the concepts of equilibrium potential and their measurement are introduced.
    • electrochemical half-cells are defined and treatment of electrochemical equations demonstrated.
    • the physical and chemical processes which lead to aqueous corrosion are examined.
    • the Nernst Equation has been derived and the way in which it links measured potentials at various conditions with standard equilibrium potentials is discussed.
    • the way in which some electrochemical reactions have equilibrium potentials that vary as a function of pH is considered and the concept and derivation of a Pourbaix diagram introduced.
    • through the use of specific examples, the characteristics of Pourbaix diagrams and their uses are examined. The stability of water is demonstrated through the use of the Pourbaix diagram.
    • cathodic and anodic reaction lines on Pourbaix diagrams are discussed and the way in which a point on the diagram corresponds to physical corrosion examined.

    Going further

    Books

    • J.M. West: "Basic Oxidation and Corrosion"
    • Ellis-Horwood L.L. Shreir, R.A. Jarman and G.T. Burstein: "Corrosion", third edition, Butterworth-Heinemann

    Websites


    This page titled 9.5: Summary is shared under a CC BY-NC-SA license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by Dissemination of IT for the Promotion of Materials Science (DoITPoMS) via source content that was edited to the style and standards of the LibreTexts platform; a detailed edit history is available upon request.

    • Was this article helpful?