Corrosion behavior of bronze under organic acid‐containing thin electrolyte layer

Abstract

The corrosion process and mechanism of three kinds of bronze materials under organic acid‐containing thin electrolyte layer (TEL) are investigated by electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) and Tafel polarization curves. It can be seen from the results that the corrosion rate of three specimens under TELs is lower than that in bulk solution. For bare bronze, the corrosion rate increases with the thickness of TEL, while for Cu2O patina bronze and CuCl patina bronze, there exists a critical thickness under TELs where the patina bronze have the maximum corrosion rate. In addition, the results show that Cu2O patina could increase the corrosion resistance, while CuCl patina, as a harmful patina, can accelerate the corrosion process. The principal corrosion products identified on the surface of bare bronze and Cu2O patina bronze are CuO, Cu(OH)2, and Cu(COOH)2, while the principal corrosion products identified on the surface of CuCl patina bronze is Cu2Cl(OH)3.