Fundamentals and Applications of Optical Interferometry as Quantum Tools for Monitoring and Measuring Electrochemical Properties of Metals in Aqueous Solutions

Abstract

In the present investigation, holographic interferometry was utilized for the first time to determine the rate change of the number of the fringe evolutions during the corrosion test of carbon steel in blank seawater and with seawater with different concentrations of a corrosion inhibitor. In other words, the anodic dissolution behaviors (corrosion) of the carbon steel were determined simultaneously by holographic interferometry, an electromagnetic method, and by the Electrochemical Impedance (E.I) spectroscopy, an electronic method. So, the abrupt rate change of the number of the fringe evolutions during corrosion test, (E.I) spectroscopy, of the carbon steel is called electrochemical emission-spectroscopy. The corrosion process of the steel samples was carried out in blank seawater and seawater with different concentrations, 5–20ppm, of RA-41 corrosion inhibitor using the E.I spectroscopy method, at room temperature. The electrochemical emission spectra of the carbon steel in different solutions represent a detail picture of the rate change of the anodic dissolution of the steel throughout the corrosion processes. Furthermore, the optical interferometry data of the carbon steel were compared to the data, which obtained from the E.I. spectroscopy. Consequently, holographic interferometric is found very useful for monitoring the anodic dissolution behaviors of metals, in which the number of the fringe evolutions of the steel samples can be determined in situ.