Electrochemical Testing

Corrosion is the chemical or electrochemical reaction between a material, usually a metal, and its environment that produces a deterioration of the metal and its properties (see ASTM G 15). A chemist would classify corrosion as an oxidation, an electron-transfer reaction involving the loss of electrons.

Since corrosion is an electrochemical process, it follows that electrochemical techniques and electrochemical instrumentation can be used to study the corrosion process. Indeed, a number of electrochemical techniques have been developed over the years especially for the measurement of corrosion processes. Electrochemical techniques are very well accepted by the corrosion community and it is the rare corrosion laboratory that does not make routine use of these tools.