The effect of tannins and pH on the corrosion of steel in wood extracts

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AbstractTannins and pH are often cited as factors that affect the corrosiveness of wood yet there are few data to confirm these statements. The purpose of this paper is to systematically investigate the effect of tannins and pH on corrosion of metals in wood. Four wood species known to vary in both their pH and extractives were chosen and extracted with water. The pH, tannin content, and corrosion rate of carbon steel were determined for each extract. To test if pH and tannin were the only factors influencing corrosion, “synthetic” extracts were made by adding tannins to distilled water and adjusting the pH. At a given pH, increasing the tannin content inhibited corrosion and at a given level of tannin content, lowering the pH increased corrosion. An isocorrosion map as a function of pH and tannins was developed by using simple kinetic models to extrapolate the data. The data may be useful in estimating the relative corrosiveness of new, nonmetallic wood preservatives based upon the chemistry of naturally durable wood species.