CorroZoom webinar with Sanna Virtanen
All dates for this event occur in the past.
Respirometric Measurements of Corrosion Processes
with Sanna Virtanen, Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nürnberg
Recently developed respirometric techniques that allow in situ real-time monitoring of corrosion will be presented. The respirometric approach is based on real-time measurement of the rate of cathodic reactions, for instance, simultaneous measurement of the cathodic kinetics of the H2 evolution reaction (HER) and the O2 reduction reaction (ORR). The non-destructive methods enable the determination of real-time corrosion rates for both atmospheric corrosion and immersion. Monitoring of H2-type corrosion can be carried out gravimetrically but also based on pressure increase in a hermetically closed chamber. For ORR, gravimetric measurements, a pressure sensor, or a fiber optic O2 sensor are employed to monitor the rate of consumption of O2 gas under immersion or atmospheric corrosion.
A combination of these methods enables us to monitor ORR and HER simultaneously. Mass loss measurements are carried out to validate the corrosion rates determined by respirometry. Combining these approaches with a flow cell setup expands the possible corrosion scenarios to be investigated. Switching between different exposure conditions enables the following e.g. wet-dry cycles and temperature changes with a real-time response of the corrosion rate. Finally, time-lapse video observation of the corroding surfaces and integration of electrochemical control to the setups complete the information achievable.
The presentation will discuss the development of the different experimental setups and show highlights of various corrosion cases where new details on mechanisms were revealed with the help of the respirometric approach.
Sanna Virtanen is a professor for Corrosion and Surface Science at the Department of Materials Science and Engineering of the Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nürnberg in Germany. She studied Materials Science at the Helsinki University of Technology, Finland, and then carried out her PhD studies in the Department of Materials at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Zurich. She carried out postdoctoral research at Brookhaven National Laboratory and McMaster University. She was an assistant professor at ETH-Zurich, before joining the Department of Materials Science in Erlangen. Her research targets the elucidation of corrosion and degradation mechanisms of advanced metallic materials as well as the development of techniques for studying the reactive solid/liquid and solid/gas interfaces. Her research interests include microstructure/chemistry effects on passivity and its breakdown, corrosion behavior of light alloys, and corrosion of metallic biomedical implant materials.