Abstract
A method was developed for measuring the potential-current curve of small amounts of carbide residues extracted from steel. The curve is necessary for selecting a suitable electrolytic potential when a potentiostatic electrolysis method is applied for the quantitative extraction of carbide from steel.
About 20 mg of dried carbide residues are mixed with about 100 mg of carbon electric conductive paint and the mixture is painted on a platinum plate (55×25×0.2 mm). The plate is suspended as the anode in electrolyte. Carbide residues begin to be electrolyzed by potentiostat and the electrolytic potential is varied at a speed of 10 mV/min. The potential and the current are automatically recorded.
The proposed method was about ten times as sensitive as the pressed graphite method which was previously reported by one of the present authors. The procedure for the measurement was simpler and the time was shorter.
Potential-current curves of commercial synthetic carbides and vanadium carbide extracted from steels were measured.
