WOLFRAM|DEMONSTRATIONS PROJECT

Corrosion Mechanism for Stainless Steel

​
potential
0.1
domain
all
activity
prepassivity
passivity
transpassivity
Fe +
H
2
O → FeOH
+
)\),
ads
+
+
H
+ 2
-
e
FeOH
+
)\),
ads
+
+
H
→
2+
Fe
+
H
2
O
​
Corrosion degrades materials, which is a source of significant expense. This Demonstration explains how steel corrodes. A steel plate (whose main component is iron) is corroded in an acid solution. This plate plays the role of a working electrode in an electrochemical cell, for which the current and potential can be measured.