In-situ investigation of atmospheric corrosion behavior of bronze under thin electrolyte layers using electrochemical technique

The atmospheric corrosion behavior of bronze under thin electrolyte layer (TEL) with different thicknesses was monitored using cathodic polarization curves, open circuit potential (OCP) and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS). Cathodic polarization result indicates that the cathodic limiting current density increases with decreasing the TEL thickness. EIS result shows that the corrosion rate increases with decreasing the TEL thickness at the initial stage because the corrosion is dominated by the cathodic process, whereas after long immersion time, the corrosion degree with the TEL thickness is in the sequence of 150 μm > 310 μm >100 μm ≈ bulk solution > 57 μm. The measurements of OCP and EIS present in-situ electrochemical corrosion information and their results are in good agreement with that of physical characterizations.