2002 Volume 42 Issue 12 Pages 1326-1333
Scanning electrochemical microscopy (SECM) is powerful to investigate non-homogeneity of surface reaction in solution. It is useful for evaluating the distribution of electrochemical reactions taking place on the electrode surface such as corrosion reaction, redox reaction on passive film and so on. The heterogeneous electrochemical reaction on polycrystalline iron, titanium and single crystal magnetite electrode surfaces were discussed. SECM can be also employed for inducing locally a certain surface electrochemical reaction on the specimen by operating a probe electrode as liquid-phase ion gun (LPIG). The application of LPIG to the passive film formed on iron for inducing the local film breakdown has revealed the details of its local breakdown process.
