An Automatic Polarization Apparatus for Electrochemical Corrosion Studies

Statistical alloy development programs in which electrochemical screening techniques are used require facilities to produce precision polarization data. Conventional equipment and techniques presently available for such programs are not entirely satisfactory. Therefore, modifications were made to readily available commercial equipment to significantly improve the attainable sensitivity and reproducibility. This paper describes in detail the procedures necessary to produce an apparatus that automatically measures and records anodic and cathodic polarization curves over an applied potential range of ±2.0 volts. Traverse rates between 2 × 10^–3 and 3 × 10⁴ volts per hour are attainable and can be used to polarize electrodes through zero volts (with respect to reference electrode) without the necessity of manual switching. A special mode switch is described in detail with which the basic electronic potentiostat can be used as a constant current or constant voltage source by manual selection. The results obtained from three typical polarization experiments: (1) potentiodynamic anodic polarization, (2) galvanodynamic cathodic polarization, and (3) galvanodynamic linear polarization of AISI Type 304 stainless steel in hydrogen saturated $1N¯$ H₂SO₄ at 25 C (77 F), showed the performance of the apparatus to be equal to or superior to that of conventional manual procedures.