Bare Metals

This application targets the evaluation of uncoated materials, typically a version of steel, in its planned service environment.  Often, this involves the development and test of corrosion inhibitors.  The most common tests ran by researchers are TAFEL plots (ASTM G5), LINEAR POLARIZATION (ASTM G59), and ELECTROCHEMICAL IMPEDANCE SPECTROSCOPY (EIS).

Dynamic current range and Low Current measurement capability define how well a potentiostat measures an electrochemical corrosion rate.  Corrosion currents can be very low.  This is a desired trait as small currents equate to a low corrosion rate, but also a more difficult value to measure.  Small electrodes, even with moderate current-densities, may also generate small current.  While our instrumentation natively provides both the accuracy and resolution to measure low current extremely well; the VersaSTAT-LC (Princeton Applied Research) and ModuLab Femto Ammeter (Solartron Analytical) hardware options expand to industry-leading capability.

Compliance Voltage is the amount of power a potentiostat can output to control the electrochemical cell.  Resistive electrolytes, like those sometimes found in oil, concrete, or soil, may require a potentiostat with a high compliance to overcome that resistive environment. The ModuLab XM with HV100 has industry leading, 100 Volts of compliance voltage.  The PARSTAT 4000A  has 48 V of compliance, which is often sufficient. 

It is not unusual for corrosion samples to have high capacitance due to their size or oxidized coatings.  The additional filtering and ranges in the VersaSTAT 4, PARSTAT-line, and ModuLab XM give more hardware options for selecting the best possible configuration for testing samples.

The K0047 Corrosion Cell is used in numerous laboratories worldwide performing corrosion testing.  This cell was designed to be in compliance with several of the most popular ASTM standards for electrochemical corrosion testing.