With greater pressures to decrease automotive exhaust emissions, alternatives fuels to gasoline are being investigated, one of which is methanol. However, the electrochemical and corrosion behavior of metals in non-aqueous environments has received relatively little attention compared to the behavior of metals in aqueous environments. The objective of this work was to systematically determine the effects of solution species (water, acid, chloride, sulfate) on the electrochemical and corrosion behavior of aluminum 5052 and pure iron in methanol solutions. Acid was found to increase both the open circuit potential and the corrosion current density of both AA5052 and iron. Additionally, acid was found to decrease the pitting potential of AA5052. The addition of Cl- to methanol resulted in decreasing the pitting potential of both AA5052 and iron. Sulfate additions were found to have no first-order effects. The addition of water to methanol tended to decrease the corrosion current density for both metals, with iron showing the most dramatic effect. The addition of water, though, also resulted in decreasing the pitting potential of AA5052.

Subject
Acids, Pits, Water, Aluminum, Sulfates, Iron, Chloride solutions, Corrosion behavior, Pitting, Methanol, Polarization, Chlorides, Corrosion potential
Keywords:
Methanol, corrosion, electrochemistry, iron, AA5052
© 1995 Association for Materials Protection and Performance (AMPP). All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without the prior written permission of AMPP. Positions and opinions advanced in this work are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of AMPP. Responsibility for the content of the work lies solely with the author(s).
1995
Association for Materials Protection and Performance (AMPP)
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