Acidic hydrogen evolution reaction

When water pH is between about 4 and 10 near room temperature, iron corrosion rates are nearly constant (Fig. 5.5). Below a pH of 4, protective corrosion products are dissolved. A bare iron surface contacts water, and acid can react directly with steel. Hydrogen evolution (Reaction 5.3) becomes pronounced below a pH of 4. In conjunction with oxygen depolarization, the corrosion rate increases sharply (Fig. 5.5). 

The standard electrode trotential, Ep, 2+ Pb = —Q.126V . shows that lead is thermodynamically unstable in acid solutions but stable in neutral. solutions. The exchange current for the hydrogen evolution reaction on lead is very small (-10 - 10"" Acm ), but control of corrosion is usually due to mechanical passivation of the local anodes of the corrosion cells as the majority of lead salts are insoluble and frequently form protective films or coatings. 

The corrosion of tin by nitric acid and its inhibition by n-alkylamines has been reportedThe action of perchloric acid on tin has been studied " and sulphuric acid corrosion inhibition by aniline, pyridine and their derivatives as well as sulphones, sulphoxides and sulphides described. Attack of tin by oxalic, citric and tartaric acids was found to be under the anodic control of the Sn salts in solution in oxygen free conditions . In a study of tin contaminated by up to 1200 ppm Sb, it was demonstrated that the modified surface chemistry catalysed the hydrogen evolution reaction in deaerated citric acid solution. 

It was indicated earlier that the cathodic current was a poor indicator of adequate protection. Whilst, to a first approximation the protection potential is a function of the metal, the current required for protection is a function of the environment and, more particularly, of the cathodic kinetics it entails. From Fig. 10.4 it is apparent that any circumstance that causes the cathodic kinetics to increase will cause both the corrosion rate and the current required for full (/") or partial (1/ — /, ) protection to rise. For example, an increase in the limiting current in Fig. 10.5 produced by an increase in environmental oxygen concentration or in fluid flow rate will increase the corrosion rate and the cathodic protection current. Similarly, if the environment is made more acid the hydrogen evolution reaction is more likely to be involved in the corrosion reaction and it also becomes easier and faster this too produces an increased corrosion rate and cathodic current demand. 

If the acid contains certain impurities such as arsenic, the arsenic raises the overvoltage for the hydrogen evolution reaction. Consequently, the amount of atomic hydrogen diffusing into the steel, and the brittleness, increase. 

The hydrogen evolution reaction (h.e.r.) is of particular importance in corrosion for a number of reasons. Firstly, the reduction of the HjO ion in acid solutions or the H2O molecule in neutral and alkaline solution is a common cathodic reaction for the corrosion of metals in acid, neutral and alkaline solutions the fact that iron will corrode in neutral water free from dissolved... 

Kita H, Ye S, Gao Y. 1992. Mass transfer effect in hydrogen evolution reaction on Pt singlecrystal electrodes in acid solution. J Electroanal Chem 334 351-357. 

Schuldiner (1959) studied the effect of H2 pressure on the hydrogen evolution reaction at bright (polished) Pt in sulphuric acid. The mechanism of the reaction was assumed to be as in equations (3.3) and (3.4). The step represented by equation (3.3) was assumed to be at equilibrium at all potentials and equation (3.4) represented the rate-determining step. The potentials were measured as overpotentials with respect to the hydrogen potential, i.e. the potential of the H +/H2 couple in the solution (0 V vs. RHE). 

The hydrogen evolution reaction is the most studied electrode process. In spite of these efforts, essential features are not understood indeed, it is sometimes suggested that focusing on hydrogen evolution has delayed the development of modern electrochemistry by years, if not decades. The overall reaction in acid media is ... 

This reaction can only proceed if the electrons are consumed by a cathodic counter reaction, because otherwise the metal surface would accumulate charge. Common reactions are the hydrogen evolution reaction, which in acid solutions proceeds according to ... 

In one of the cells (cathode chamber), conditions are such that the hydrogen evolution reaction occurs. This may be due to potentiostatic or galvanostatic polarization, or corrosion of the metal in an acidic solution. 

Preliminary results showed that these types of compounds are possible inhibitors of the corrosion of iron in acids. This anticorrosion behavior is believed to arise from the fact that a dithiocarbamate-substituted cobalt cyclam can affect the hydrogen evolution reaction within the system. A... 

Determination of the pathways may be a demanding affair where more complex reactions are concerned, particularly when there may be more than one pathway occurring at one time. To make this meaning of pathway clear, let the simplest electrode reaction involving a reaction intermediate be chosen the hydrogen evolution reaction. The overall reaction hardly needs determination. It is (in acid solution)... 

The hydrogen evolution reaction is studied on two metals, A and B, in sulfuric acid solutions of a = 1. The graphic representation of the corresponding Tafel... 

Fig. 12.6. The hydrogen-evolution reaction is the electronation reaction that occurs in zinc corrosion in acid solution.

The effect of the chromium content of the alloy on corrosion in boiling acids is shown in Table 4.7 along with the data for carbon steel and low-carbon and low-nitrogen 35% Cr alloys. The data show that the corrosion rates of 18 Cr-8 Ni (Type 304) is lower than Type 430 and 446 that is devoid of nickel. The nickel is the alloy probably reduces the rate of hydrogen evolution reaction. The molybdenum in Type 316 alloy was found to be useful in protection from pitting by chloride ions. 

There is clearly a microstructural dependence, and studies on HAZs show corrosion to be appreciably more severe when the material composition and welding parameters are such that hardened structures are formed. It has been known for many years that hardened steel may corrode more rapidly in acid conditions than fully tempered material, apparently because local microcathodes on the hardened surface stimulate the cathodic hydrogen evolution reaction. (Bond)5... 

Reaction layerthickness — An electrochemical reaction (e.g., hydrogen evolution reaction HER) maybe associated with a preceding chemical reaction (i.e., dissociation of a weak acid in this example) according to... 

The Tafel slope for this mechanism is 2.3RT/PF, and this is one of the few cases offering good evidence that P = a, namely, that the experimentally measured transfer coefficient is equal to the symmetry factor. A plot of log i versus E for the hydrogen evolution reaction (h.e.r.), obtained on a dropping mercury electrode in a dilute acid solution is shown in Fig. 4F. The accuracy shown here is not common in electrode kinetics measurements, even when a DME is employed. On solid electrodes, one must accept an even lower level of accuracy and reproducibility. The best values of the symmetry factor obtained in this kind of experiment are close to, but not exactly equal to, 0.500. It should be noted, however, that the Tafel line is very straight that is, P is strictly independent of potential over 0.6-0.7 V, corresponding to five to six orders of magnitude of current density. 

A value of current efficiency below 100% usually indicates that by-products are formed. Another possibility is that reverse reaction happens, for example, dissolution of deposited metal. In metal recovery from acidic solutions, the hydrogen evolution reaction is a common side reaction that lowers the current efficiency. The current efficiency can also vary with the current density. Current efficiency is a widely used measure of tankhouse proficiency in producing metal, but it does not provide a direct measure of metal quality. 

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