Monitoring of Initial Stages of Atmospheric Zinc Corrosion in Simulated Acid Rain Solution under Wet-dry Cyclic Conditions

Exposure of zinc samples in simulated acid rain solution (SARS) was investigated under a periodic wet-dry conditions using an AC impedance technique. The periodic wet and dry exposure consisted of the immersion of zinc samples in SARS for one hour followed by exposure to 7 hours drying at 60% RH. Phases of the corrosion products were indentified by X-ray diffraction (XRD). The influence of relative humdiity (RH), temperature, and surface inclination on the atmospheric corrosion of zinc is described. The reciprocal of polarization resistance (1/Rp) decreases rapidly during the initial stages then slowly and eventually attains a steady state as exposure time progresses. The average of reciprocal of polarization resistance per cycle, (ARPR) was calculated and found to decrease as number of exposure cycle increases. An increase of temperature enhances the corrsion rate of zinc. The values of ARPR, of a sample inclined at 30 o are lower than those for a sample oriented horizontally. The experiment result shows a pronounced dependence of reciprocal of polarization resistance on RH. Exposure in the presence of carbonate anions gives rise to more protective corrosion products than in nitrate anion solution. The corrosion mechanism during the initial stages of atmospheric zinc corrosion under wet-dry cyclic conditions is suggested.