Application of electro analytical chemistry for the corrosion process on the stainless steel electrodes in the acidic thiourea

Abstract

A cyclic voltammetry study is one of electro analytical chemistry methods which able to study the corrosion of material. In this research, the cyclic voltammetry has been carried out in order to determine the voltage range that contributes to the initiation of the corrosion on the surface of stainless steel in the acidic thiourea solution. In this study, the knowledge of corrosion on stainless steel is useful in the optimisation process for gold recovery from electronic waste based on electrodeposition technique. Since stainless steel material has been used as both anode and cathode in the experimental setup, under certain applied voltage, corrosion might occur and hinder the gold recovery process by damaging the electrodes. With the aid of cyclic voltammetry study, the suitable applied voltage for electrodeposition process has been investigated and found to be approximately 1.4 V for two-electrode setup for a system with sulfuric acid concentration of 0.1 M in the presence of 0.1 M thiourea. The data obtained can be used as a basis to determine a suitable pre-set applied voltage in the electrodeposition process such that corrosion on the electrodes can be avoided.