Microbiologically influenced corrosion of Cu by marine ammonifying Alcaligenes aquatilis bacterium

Abstract

In this work, we studied the microbiologically influenced corrosion mechanism of Cu by marine ammonifying bacterium Alcaligenes aquatilis. Through immersion experiments, we found that A. aquatilis could accelerate the corrosion rate of copper, resulting in the development of pits. In the presence of A. aquatilis, the morphology and composition of the corrosion products differed from the abiotic samples, and we found that Cu2O was the main corrosion product. By analyzing the biotic medium and experimental NH3 addition, we verified that NH3 was the main component that intensified copper corrosion. Furthermore, we found that NH3 played a catalytic role in the corrosion of Cu in the presence of A. aquatilis.