Mixed electrodes, experimental polarization

The earlier sections of this chapter discuss the mixed electrode as the interaction of anodic and cathodic reactions at respective anodic and cathodic sites on a metal surface. The mixed electrode is described in terms of the effects of the sizes and distributions of the anodic and cathodic sites on the potential measured as a function of the position of a reference electrode in the adjacent electrolyte and on the distribution of corrosion rates over the surface. For a metal with fine dispersions of anodic and cathodic reactions occurring under Tafel polarization behavior, it is shown (Fig. 4.8) that a single mixed electrode potential, Ecorr, would be measured by a reference electrode at any position in the electrolyte. The counterpart of this mixed electrode potential is the equilibrium potential, E M (or E x), associated with a single half-cell reaction such as Cu in contact with Cu2+ ions under deaerated conditions. The forms of the anodic and cathodic branches of the experimental polarization curves for a single half-cell reaction under charge-transfer control are shown in Fig. 3.11. It is emphasized that the observed experimental curves are curved near i0 and become asymptotic to E M at very low values of the external current. In this section, the experimental polarization of mixed electrodes is interpreted in terms of the polarization parameters of the individual anodic and cathodic reactions establishing the mixed electrode. The interpretation then leads to determination of the corrosion potential, Ecorr, and to determination of the corrosion current density, icorr, from which the corrosion rate can be calculated. 

Although the CMT method was originally developed to measure the corrosion rate at the corrosion potential, it has been demonstrated that it can also be used, with some restrictions, to measure the dissolution rate of a polarized electrode. The device for polarization can be a galvanostat or a potentiostat, the operation of which must not interfere with the pH measurements. Most important, the counter electrode must be in the same cell compartment as the experimental electrode and its content well mixed. 

Similar approaches are used for most steady-state measurement techniques developed for mixed ionic-electronic conductors (see -> conductors and -> conducting solids). These include the measurements of concentration-cell - electromotive force, experiments with ion- or electron-blocking electrodes, determination of - electrolytic permeability, and various combined techniques [ii-vii]. In all cases, the results may be affected by electrode polarization this influence should be avoided optimizing experimental procedures and/or taken into account via appropriate modeling. See also -> Wagner equation, -> Hebb-Wagner method, and -> ambipolar conductivity. 

At open circuit the interface with the silver electrode is In thermodynamic equilibrium. The interface with the zinc electrode has a mixed potential, which is defined by adding the zinc oxidation and proton reduction currents, with the latter reaction characterised as being very slow at the zinc electrode. The polarities of the electrodes in open-circuit conditions are defined by the experimentally measured potentials of each electrode vs a saturated calomel reference electrode. 

---