Electrochemical Studies on the Corrosion Behavior of Carbon Steel in Presence of Cu and Ni

Abstract

The work presented in this paper deals with the investigations on the effect of Cu and Ni on the corrosion behavior of carbon steel under different experimental conditions. Electrochemical techniques like potentiodynamic polarization, linear polarization resistance and AC impedance have been used to investigate the effect of Cu and Ni on the corrosion behavior of carbon steel. The important experimental conditions which include the nature of aqueous medium, metal ion concentration and pH have been taken into account. The instantaneous corrosion parameters as computed by potentiodynamic polarization, linear polarization resistance and AC impedance show an increase in corrosion rates of carbon steel with increasing Cu and Ni concentrations. However, the corrosion parameter as computed by AC impedance for an extended period of one month follows an interesting trend. The presence of Cu and Ni in the aqueous medium produces almost identical effect on the corrosion behavior of carbon steel. The microscopic examination of the test samples, under controlled laboratory conditions, did not show the evidence of localized attack on carbon steel in presence of different concentrations of Cu and Ni.