Effect of halide ions on passivation and pitting Corrosion of copper in alkaline solutions

Abstract

AbstractThe passivity of copper in NaOH and borate buffer solutions containing chloride, bromide and fluoride ions was studied by using cyclic voltammetry and potentiostatic current transient measurements. At scan rates ≥ 20 mVs−1, the addition of halide ions does not nearly affect the cyclic voltammograms in the absence of pitting. But they differ considerably in presence of pitting. The pitting potential was found to depend on the solution pH and decreased linearly with increase of logarithm of halide ion concentration. The current transients in the passivity as well as in the pitting potential regions were analyzed. Before the pitting, i‐time curves were rather similar to those obtained in the plain solutions. At times > 20 seconds, the current varies linearly with the reciprocal of the square root of time indicating diffusional characteristics of the metal corrosion through the passive layer. In presence of pitting, the pitting current versus time relations fit the Engell‐Stolica equation.