Electrochemical cathodic reaction

Reduction of oxygen is one of the predominant cathodic reactions contributing to corrosion. Awareness of the importance of the role of oxygen was developed in the 1920s (19). In classical drop experiments, the corrosion of iron or steel by drops of electrolytes was shown to depend on electrochemical action between the central relatively unaerated area, which becomes anodic and suffers attack, and the peripheral aerated portion, which becomes cathodic and remains unattacked. In 1945 the linear relationship between rate of iron corrosion and oxygen pressure from 0—2.5 MPa (0—25 atm) was shown (20). 

It follows from the electrochemical mechanism of corrosion that the rates of the anodic and cathodic reactions are interdependent, and that either or both may control the rate of the corrosion reaction. It is also evident from thermodynamic considerations (Tables 1.9 and 1.10) that for a species in solution to act as an electron acceptor its redox potential must be more positive than that of the M /M equilibrium or of any other equilibrium involving an oxidised form of the metal. 

Other corrosion inhibitors also enhance passivity without electrochemical reduction, by depositing insoluble oxidation products into the passivating film. For example benzoate ions cause deposition of ferric benzoate into the oxide, but do not provide any cathodic reaction. 

When dezincification occurs in service the brass dissolves anodically and this reaction is electrochemically balanced by the reduction of dissolved oxygen present in the water at the surface of the brass. Both the copper and zinc constituents of the brass dissolve, but the copper is not stable in solution at the potential of dezincifying brass and is rapidly reduced back to metallic copper. Once the attack becomes established, therefore, two cathodic sites exist —the first at the surface of the metal, at which dissolved oxygen is reduced, and a second situated close to the advancing front of the anodic attack where the copper ions produced during the anodic reaction are reduced to form the porous mass of copper which is characteristic of dezincification. The second cathodic reaction can only be sufficient to balance electrochemically the anodic dissolution of the copper of the brass, and without the support of the reduction of oxygen on the outer face (which balances dissolution of the zinc) the attack cannot continue. 

The electrochemical effects of slowly and erratically thickening oxide films on iron cathodes are, of course, eliminated when the film is destroyed by reductive dissolution and the iron is maintained in the film-free condition. Such conditions are obtained when iron is coupled to uncontrolled magnesium anodes in high-conductivity electrolytes and when iron is coupled to aluminium in high-conductivity solutions of pH less than 4-0 or more than 12 0 . In these cases, the primary cathodic reaction (after reduction of the oxide film) is the evolution of hydrogen. 

Electrochemical corrosion of metals Since the aggressiveness of salt melts is governed by redox equilibria, and is often controlled by composition of the external atmosphere, effects analogous to electrochemical or oxygen-concentration corrosion in aqueous systems can occur in salt melts. Tomashov and Tugarinov determined cathodic polarisation curves in fused chlorides and concluded that the cathodic reactions of impurities could be represented as ... 

This is a simplified treatment but it serves to illustrate the electrochemical nature of rusting and the essential parts played by moisture and oxygen. The kinetics of the process are influenced by a number of factors, which will be discussed later. Although the presence of oxygen is usually essential, severe corrosion may occur under anaerobic conditions in the presence of sulphate-reducing bacteria Desulphovibrio desulphuricans) which are present in soils and water. The anodic reaction is the same, i.e. the formation of ferrous ions. The cathodic reaction is complex but it results in the reduction of inorganic sulphates to sulphides and the eventual formation of rust and ferrous sulphide (FeS). 

For thermodynamic reasons, an electrochemical reaction can occur only within a dehnite region of potentials a cathodic reaction at electrode potentials more negative, an anodic reaction at potentials more positive than the equilibrium potential of that reaction. This condition only implies a possibility that the electrode reaction will occur in the corresponding region of potentials it provides no indication of whether the reaction will actually occur, and if so, what its rate will be. The answers are provided not by thermodynamics but by electrochemical kinetics. 

Thus, all electrochemical reactions can be characterized by the form of kinetic relation and by the set of coefficients k, a (and, if necessary p), and the values of the concentrations Cj. Particular values of the coefficients always hold for specific reactions hence, the corresponding indices should be appended to the coefficients. In the following, when considering the relatively simple redox reaction (6.2), we use the notations a, and for the coefficients and concentration of the anodic reaction (from left to right) and k, p, and for those of the cathodic reaction occurring in the opposite direction. 

In electrochemical reactions the electron is not extracted into the vacuum. For cathodic reactions it is extracted from the electrode into the electrolyte, and for... 

Anodic Protection Corrosion of metals, and their alloys, exposed to a given environment requires at least two separate electrochemical (anodic and cathodic) reactions. The corrosion rate is determined at the intersection of these two reactions (see Fig. 25-2a). 

The electrolyte is made by in situ chlorination of vanadium to vanadium dichloride in a molten salt bath. Higher valent chlorides are difficult to retain in the bath and thus are not preferred. The molten bath, which is formed by sodium chloride or an equimolar mixture of potassium chloride-sodium chloride or of potassium chloride-lithium chloride or of sodium chloride-calcium chloride, is contained in a graphite crucible. The crucible also serves as an anode. Electrolysis is conducted at a temperature about 50 °C above the melting point of the salt bath, using an iron or a molybdenum cathode and a cathode current density of 25 to 75 A dnT2. The overall electrochemical deposition reaction involves the formation and the discharge of the divalent ionic species, V2+ ... 

The concept of electrochemical intercalation/insertion of guest ions into the host material is further used in connection with redox processes in electronically conductive polymers (polyacetylene, polypyrrole, etc., see below). The product of the electrochemical insertion reaction should also be an electrical conductor. The latter condition is sometimes by-passed, in systems where the non-conducting host material (e.g. fluorographite) is finely mixed with a conductive binder. All the mentioned host materials (graphite, oxides, sulphides, polymers, fluorographite) are studied as prospective cathodic materials for Li batteries. 

For forced-convection studies, the cathodic reaction of copper deposition has been largely supplanted by the cathodic reduction of ferricyanide at a nickel or platinum surface. An alkaline-supported equimolar mixture of ferri- and ferrocyanide is normally used. If the anolyte and the catholyte in the electrochemical cell are not separated by a diaphragm, oxidation of ferrocyanide at the anode compensates for cathodic depletion of ferricyanide.3... 

In this chapter we treat electron-transfer reactions from a macroscopic point of view using concepts familiar from chemical kinetics. The overall rate v of an electrochemical reaction is the difference between the rates of oxidation (the anodic reaction) and reduction (the cathodic reaction) it is customary to denote the anodic reaction, and the current associated with it, as positive ... 

In contrast to acidic electrolytes, chemical dissolution of a silicon electrode proceeds already at OCP in alkaline electrolytes. For cathodic potentials chemical dissolution competes with cathodic reactions, this commonly leads to a reduced dissolution rate and the formation of a slush layer under certain conditions [Pa2]. For potentials slightly anodic of OCP, electrochemical dissolution accompanies the chemical one and the dissolution rate is thereby enhanced [Pa6]. For anodic potentials above the passivation potential (PP), the formation of an anodic oxide, as in the case of acidic electrolytes, is observed. Such oxides show a much lower dissolution rate in alkaline solutions than the silicon substrate. As a result the electrode surface becomes passivated and the current density decreases to small values that correspond to the oxide etch rate. That the current density peaks at PP in Fig. 3.4 are in fact connected with the growth of a passivating oxide is proved using in situ ellipsometry [Pa2]. Passivation is independent of the type of cation. Organic compounds like hydrazin [Sul], for example, show a behavior similar to inorganic ones, like KOH [Pa8]. Because of the presence of a passivating oxide the current peak at PP is not observed for a reverse potential scan. 

The review below deals with anodic and cathodic reactions of organic derivatives of sulfur, which have interesting potentialities for the electrosynthesis and electrochemically initiated functionalization of organosulfur and related organic compounds. 

Electrochemical thermodynamics predicts that an anodic reaction may proceed only at electrode potentials more positive than the equilibrium potential of the reaction and a cathodic reaction may proceed only at electrode potentials more negative than the equilibriiun potential. In other words, the Fermi level of the electrode must be higher for the cathodic reaction to proceed and must be lower for the anodic reaction to proceed than the Fermi level of the reaction. 

A significant cost advantage of alkaline fuel cells is that both anode and cathode reactions can be effectively catalyzed with nonprecious, relatively inexpensive metals. To date, most low cost catalyst development work has been directed towards Raney nickel powders for anodes and silver-based powders for cathodes. The essential characteristics of the catalyst structure are high electronic conductivity and stability (mechanical, chemical, and electrochemical). 

It has been shown in the previous chapters that the product of the electrochemical reactions in the sulphide flotation system is determined by the mixed potential of the flotation pulp. The value of the potential is dependent on the equilibrium of anodic and cathodic process existing in the pulp. In general, the most important cathodic reaction existing in the pulp is the oxygen reduction. To rewrite Eq. (1-1) as the following ... 

---