Abstract
The electrochemical behaviour of iron in methanol solutions has been investigated. In anhydrous methanol (<0.07%H2O), iron dose not exhibit definite passive behaviour. In the presence of water up to 5.0% content there is a decrease in anodic dissolution current and the passive behaviour is clearly observed. On the other hand, an active dissolution of iron occurs in the solution containing water more than 10% and consequently the corrosion rate increases. It is found that the corrosion rate of iron is governed by anodic reaction in the methanol solution with water contents up to 10%, whereas by the cathodic reaction in the methanol solution containing water more than 20%. The cathodic current in methanol solutions increases with increasing concentration of dissolved oxygen. However, the dissolved oxygen inhibits the anodic dissolution of iron. Hence the increase of the dissolved oxygen results in a decrease of the corrosion rate of iron.
