Corrosion of copper by water

Abstract

We have studied copper corrosion in a system comprised of deionized water, absolute pressure gauges, and a palladium membrane. A transition from O2 -consuming to H2 -evolving copper corrosion is observed, which indicates that copper can corrode by water itself. The equilibrium hydrogen pressure in corrosion of copper by water at 73°C exceeds the steady-state atmospheric hydrogen pressure (5× 10-7 bar) by a factor of about 2000. The growth of a hydrogen-containing corrosion product in O2 -free water is controlled by the hydrogen removal from the corroding surface. The results are discussed in the perspective of conventional potential-pH diagram for copper. © 2007 The Electrochemical Society.