Abstract
The electrochemical and corrosion behavior of pure zinc and Zn-0.5Ni alloy in strong alkaline solution (7 M KOH) was investigated by Tafel plot, potentiodynamic, potentiostatic and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) methods, and characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscope (SEM). Measurements were conducted under different experimental conditions. The results of both Tafel plot extrapolation and the electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) measurements exhibited the same trend, which the cathodic and anodic processes on the alloy surface are less significant compared with those on the pure zinc. The results revealed that, the shift in steady state of open-circuit potential (E-corr) to more negative potential in the case of the studied alloy compared with that of pure zinc has a positive effect on both charge efficiency and self-discharge.
The anodic potentiodynamic measurements demonstrated that the polarization curves exhibited active/passive transition. The active dissolution of both pure zinc and its alloy increases with increasing temperature and scan rate. The activation energy (E-a) value of active region and peak current (I-Al) of the two studied electrodes in the investigated alkaline solution is calculated and compared. In the case of alloy, the results obtained at certain positive potential (+425 mV vs. SCE), exhibited high current density indicating that the most passive layer was destroyed. This indicates that the addition of small amount from Ni to Zn promotes the electrochemical reaction (in the passive region), acting as so-called self catalysis. Accordingly, one can conclude that, the electrochemical behavior of the investigated alloy in strong alkaline solution contributes to suppression of hydrogen gas evolution and increases the corrosion resistance. In addition, reactivation of the alloy surface takes place in the passive region. (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.