Atmospheric corrosion electrochemistry

While the Kelvin probe is widely used in surface physics to study adsorption of molecules or reconstruction processes of single crystal surfaces (see e.g. [4]), which both cause a change in the surface or dipole potential, its application in electrochemistry is quite recent. As it is the only reliable reference electrode that can be applied to electrodes covered by ultrathin electrolyte layers, a common situation in atmospheric corrosion, it was first applied for electrochemical studies in corrosion science. Stratmann et al. [5-14] were the first who used a Kelvin probe as reference electrode. 

---