X-ray diffraction analysis of corrosion products on electrochemically polarized copper surface

X-ray Diffraction Analysis of Corrosion Products on Electrochemically Polarized Copper Surface An investigation was undertaken to examine the feasibility of X-ray diffractometry for the identification and characterization of corrosion products formed, electrochemically, on copper surface in various aqueous media. The removal of the products from the metal surface was useful in overcoming serious interferences from the intense diffraction lines of copper and was most satisfactory for the identification of common film components such as cuprous oxide, cuprous chloride and cupric oxide. In addition, the results obtained for the surface film components by slow scan linear (or potentiodynamic) polarization agreed favourably with the X-ray diffraction analysis. The influence of the solution pH and temperature on the nature of the corrosion products was evident on the results obtained by both techniques. The dominance of cuprous oxide as the major film component at the low solution pH and of cupric oxide as the predominant species at the higher solution pH and higher temperature were also confirmed by both results.