School of Chemical & Bio-Engineering

APPLIED ELECTROCHEMISTRY LAB

REPORT

Experiment title: Corrosion

Experiment number: 3

Submitted by: Natnael Berhanu ATR/6941/06

Hanan Biya ATR/4103/06
Fozia Kassim ATR/1331/06
Faruk Kemal ATR/1653/06

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 Objective
 to observe and record in what extent the different medias with the supply of
air can affect the rate of corrosion.

Theory
Corrosion is a natural process, which converts a refined metal to a more stable form,
such as its oxide, hydroxide or sulfide.it is the gradual destruction of materials
usually metals by chemical reaction with their environment.in the most common use
of the word, this means electrochemical oxidation of metal in reaction with an
oxidant such as oxygen or Sulphur rusting, the formation of iron oxides, is a well-
known example of electrochemical corrosion. This type of damage typically
produces oxides or salts of the original metal, and results in a distinctive orange
coloration. corrosion can also occur in materials other than metals, such as ceramics
or polymers, although in this context, the term degradation is more common.
Corrosion degrades the useful properties of materials and structures including
strength, appearance and permeability to liquid and gases. Many structural alloys
corrode merely from exposure to moisture in air, but the process can be strongly
affected by exposure to certain substances. Corrosion can be concentrated locally to
form a pit or crack, or it can extend across a wide area more or less uniformly
corroding the surface. Because corrosion is a diffusion-controlled process, it occurs
on exposed surfaces.as a result, methods to reduce the activity of the exposed
surface, such as passivation and chromate conversion, can increase a material’s
corrosion resistance. however, some corrosion mechanisms are less visible and less
predictable.
We can classify the types in which corrosion occurs in the following families:
General corrosion- this type of corrosion can be seen as the material has on the
whole surface looks rough and corroded due to electrochemical reactions that have
occurred. Also known as uniform corrosion.

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Localized corrosion- unlike general corrosion, localized corrosion occurs in
areas or surfaces perfectly located where corrosion is concentrated at those sites.it
also can be classified as follows:
 pitting corrosion-corrosion narrow and deep which perforate the metal.
 Crevice corrosion-corrosion wide and deep due to the lack of access of
corrosive agent, also known as concentration cells corrosion.
 Filiform corrosion-corrosion with wire shape, which occurs in high
humidity environments.
 Galvanic corrosion-corrosion is produced by contact of two materials with
different galvanic potential and in the presence of a corrosive environment.
 Stress corrosion-corrosion is presented in combination of agents and
corrosive media along with the presence of static or dynamic efforts or
stresses which supports the material. Generally recognized by the presence
of cracks or fissures in the material.
 Intergranular corrosion-is the corrosion that occurs at the edge or inside of
the metals, it’s necessary metallographic techniques to identify the area and
the promoter agent of such corrosion.

Prevention of corrosion:
There are many methods of protecting metals against corrosion.
They are
 Barrier protection
 Sacrificial protection
 Cathodic protection.
Barrier protection:
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Here, a thin barrier is developed between the surface of iron and atmosphere by one
of the following methods:
a) Painting of the surface
b) Coating the surface with a thin film of oil or grease
c) Developing a thin layer of some non –corrosive metal like nickel, chromium
copper etc., by electroplating.

Sacrificial protection:
In this case, the surface of iron is covered with a more electropositive metal like zinc
or aluminum. Since this metal loses electrons more readily than iron, rusting is
prevented. As long as metal is present, iron does not get rusted. This type of
protection is called ‘sacrificial production’.
Cathodic protection (Electrical protection):
This method is especially used for underground iron pipes. Here, the iron pipe or
tank is connected to a more electropositive metal like magnesium or aluminum. The
more electropositive metal acts like anode (supplies electrons) and iron acts like
cathode (receives electrons). Thus, iron is protected by turning it as a cathode.
Hence, the method is called ‘cathodic protection’.

By retarding either the anodic or cathodic reactions the rate of corrosion can be
reduced. This can be achieved in several ways: This can be sub-divided in to two
main groups:
 Coating the metal
 Alloying the metal

Coating the metal:

In order to prevent corrosion, resistant coating is made between metal and
environment.

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  Hot dipping
 Electroplating
 In thermal spraying
 Organic coatings

Alloying the metal:

Alloying the metal is to produce a more corrosion resistant alloy, e.g. stainless steel,
in which ordinary steel is alloyed with chromium and nickel. Stainless steel is
protected by an invisibly thin, naturally formed film of chromium sesquioxide
Cr2O3
In general, the corrosion behavior of alloys depends on the interaction of:
1. The alloy of specific chemical composition and metallurgical structure.
2. The film on the alloy surface.
3. The environment, whether it is sufficiently aggressive to break down the
protectiveness of the surface film, thereby initiating localized corrosion.
4. The alloy/environment combination, controlling whether the film self-repairs after
breakdown and, if not, the type and rate of corrosion that propagates after initiation
has occurred.
Material and equipment used
 hydrochloric acid
 Strip of iron and aluminum
 Distilled water
 NaCl
 Potassium hydroxide
 Analytical balance
 Beaker
 Oven

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 Procedure
 The solution of HCl, KOH, NaCl and distilled water was prepared at PH of 3
for acid and 11.7 for base with water.
 The initial weight of each metal was measured and labeled the for acid, base,
salt and distilled water.
 The metals were put at their labeled place and the container was sealed.
 7 days later the metals were removed from their container.
 The mass of the metals was measured and they were compared with the
previous one.

Data and Calculation

1.acidic medium(HCl), pH=3

Type of metal Initial Final mass(g) Change in Dissolved

mass(g) mass(Δm) rate
(mg per day)
Iron(Fe) 43 42.3 0.7 0.078
Aluminium(Al) 2 0 2 0.222

2.basic medium(KOH), pH=13

Type of metal Initial Final mass(g) Change in Dissolved rate

mass(g) mass(Δm) (mg per day)
Iron(Fe) 42.1 41.91 0.19 0.0211
Aluminium(Al) 11.34 11.05 0.29 0.0322

3.salt medium(NaCl)

Type of metal Initial Final mass(g) Change in Dissolved rate

mass(g) mass(Δm) (mg per day)
Iron(Fe) 19.61 18.86 0.75 0.083333
Aluminium(Al) 4.52 4.5 0.02 0.00222

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4.Distiled water

Type of metal Initial Final mass(g) Change in Dissolved rate

mass(g) mass(Δm) (mg per day)
Iron(Fe) 32.4 29.1 3.3 0.367
Aluminium(Al) 4.5 4.48 0.02 0.00222

Conclusion
As you can see in the calculation part of this experimental lab report, the
corrosion rate is different in different solution.
 The maximum iron corrosion is happened when iron immersed in acidic
solution with the presence of oxygen.
 The maximum aluminium corrosion is exist when the aluminium surface
immersed in acidic solution but there is no oxygen
 The corrosion rate of stressed aluminium in distilled water and aluminium
metal in NaCl salt is equal.
 The corrosion rate of aluminium metal in the acid medium is high when there
is no supply of oxygen
 If there is the absence of oxygen in both acidic and basic solution, then
aluminium can easily corrode than iron
So based on our experimental report, we can conclude that,
 The corrosion rate of aluminium metal is low in the presence of oxygen and
this is because of the chemical interaction of aluminium and oxygen i.e.
aluminium can form aluminium oxide film when it comes in contact with
oxygen and this film protect aluminium from external attack.
 If both (iron and aluminium) metal have contact with acid and base in the
absence of air, aluminium can easily attacked.
 We can take the effect of distilled water on stressed aluminium surface and
the effect of NaCl on aluminium surface is equal.
 In general, the effect of acid in metal surface is stronger than all other (i.e.
base, salt and water) effect

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