Electrochemical corrosion
Definition
Electrochemical corrosion is destructive oxidation of metal that proceeds as an electron-flow system once oxygen or another oxidizer pulls electrons from the metal.
When oxygen attacks metal, the atoms reorganize into oxides and hydroxides that do not spontaneously revert to useful metal. Most corrosion failures are not mysterious chemistry but electron-flow systems with a driving force and a rate limit. The detailed mechanism of how corrosion cells form is treated in the corrosion chapter.
Related concepts
Four requirements for electrochemical corrosion · Cathode · Anode
How it connects
- this drives Corrosion
- Dissolved Oxygen enables this
- Redox reaction enables this
- Corrosion Cell enables this
Part of The Blueprint of Water · ⚡ electrochemistry