Electrochemical behaviour of copper in potassium thiocyanate : I. Dissolution, passivation and pitting processes

The electrochemical behaviour of copper in borate buffers containing KSCN is studied by potentiostatic and potentiodynamic techniques complemented with scanning electron microscopy and EDAX. The voltammetric response can be divided into three regions. Region I is related to the formation of a Cu(SCN...

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Detalhes bibliográficos
Autores: Figueroa, M. G., Salvarezza, Roberto Carlos, Arvia, Alejandro Jorge
Formato: artículo
Estado:Versión publicada
Fecha de publicación:1986
País:Argentina
Recursos:Universidad Nacional de La Plata
Repositorio:SEDICI (UNLP)
Idioma:inglés
OAI Identifier:oai:sedici.unlp.edu.ar:10915/119427
Acesso em linha:http://sedici.unlp.edu.ar/handle/10915/119427
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palavra-chave:Ciencias Exactas
Química
Copper
Potassium thiocyanate
Electrochemical behaviour
Descrição
Resumo:The electrochemical behaviour of copper in borate buffers containing KSCN is studied by potentiostatic and potentiodynamic techniques complemented with scanning electron microscopy and EDAX. The voltammetric response can be divided into three regions. Region I is related to the formation of a Cu(SCN)<sub>ad</sub> monolayer followed by a porous tridimensional growth of CuSCN(s). A complex oxide layer containing a Cu(I) inner and a Cu(II) outer layer is formed under the CuSCN layer leading to metal passivation. At this stage of the process soluble Cu(I) and Cu(II) species are detected. Region II corresponds to the onset of Cu passivity through the formation of a complex film. The passive region extends up to a certain critical value (breakdown potential) associated with the localized corrosion of base Cu (region III). The breakdown potential decreases linearly as the KSCN concentration increases. The localized corrosion process is apparently related to the nucleation and growth of an unstable Cu(SCN)<sub>2</sub> layer in equilibrium with Cu(SCN)−<sub>3</sub>(I). A reaction pathway is presented to account for the overall electrochemical behaviour of Cu in borate buffers containing KSCN.