Abstract
The thermodynamics of irreversible processes was applied to the electrochemical corrosion. affecting metals in acid solutions. The relations between polarization and electrochemical corrosion were studied and the following results were obtained. (1) The anodic reaction rate is equal to the cathodic reaction rate. This can be deduced, in phenomenological equations, from the fact that the rate of entropy production is minimum in a stationary state. (2) Both the natural electrode potential and the corrosion rate are expressed as functions of the equilibrium potential of the anode and the cathode, the phenomenological coefficients, the thickness of the diffusion layer and the concentration of the dissolved oxygen. (3) The corrosion rates are expressed as functions of the natural electrode potentials. (4) The relationship between the corrosion rate and the natural electrode potential depends on the phenomenological coefficients, the equilibrium potential of the anode and the cathode, the relative velocity of movement and the concentration of the dissolved oxygen.
