Dynamic Sensing of Localized Corrosion at the MetalSolution Interface.docVIP

Sensors 2012, 12, 4962-4973; doi:10.3390/s120404962 OPEN ACCESS sensors ISSN 1424-8220 /journal/sensors Communication Dynamic Sensing of Localized Corrosion at the Metal/Solution Interface Wei Li 1, Boyu Yuan 1,2,*, Chao Wang 3, Liang Li 3 and Shenhao Chen 4 1 School of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering, China University of Mining and Technology, Xuzhou 221116, China 2 School of Physics and Electronics Engineering, Jiangsu Normal University, Xuzhou 221116, China 3 Department of Chemistry, Jiangsu Normal University, Xuzhou 221116, China 4 Department of Chemistry, Shandong University, Jinan 250100, China * Author to whom correspondence should be addressed; E-Mail: isecmee@; Tel./Fax: +86-516-8359-0798. Received: 15 February 2012; in revised form: 10 April 2012 / Accepted: 11 April 2012 / Published: 18 April 2012 Abstract: A Mach-Zehnder interferometer is employed to detect localized corrosion at the metal/solution interface in the potentiodynamic sweep of the iron electrode in solutions. During the electrochemical reactions, local variations of the electrolyte’s refractive index, which correlate with the concentration of dissolved species, change the optical path length (OPL) of the object beam when the beam passes through the electrolyte. The distribution of the OPL difference was obtained to present the concentration change of the metal ions visually, which enable direct evidence of corrosion processes. The OPL difference distribution shows localized and general corrosion during the anodic dissolution of the iron electrode in solutions with and without chloride ions, respectively. This method provides an approach for dynamic detection of localized corrosion at the metal/solution interface. Keyword: localized corrosion; interfaces; Mach-Zehnder interferometer 1. Introduction Localized corrosion, a serious problem in industries for it often causes catastrophic failures in engineering structures, normal