Hydrogen gas production during corrosion of copper by water

This paper considers the corrosion of copper in water by: (1) short term, open system weight measurements and (2) long term, closed system immersion in distilled water (13,800 h) without O2 at 21–55 °C. In the latter experiments, the hydrogen gas pressure is measured above the immersed copper and approaches ∼10−3 bar at equilibrium. This pressure is mostly due to copper corrosion and greatly exceeds that in ambient air. Accordingly, this measured hydrogen pressure from copper corrosion increases with temperature and has the same dependency as the concentration of OH− in the ion product [OH−] [H+].

Research highlights
► The hydrogen gas pressure is measured above immersed copper in distilled water and approaches ∼10−3 bar at equilibrium.
► Measured hydrogen pressure from copper corrosion increases with temperature and has the same dependency as the concentration of OH− in the ion product [OH−] [H+].
► The presence of OH− and H+ facilitates a corrosion couple in distilled liquid water.
► The present mode of corrosion depends on the concentration of hydrogen in the Cu-samples and therefore their thickness.