Electrochemistry and Corrosion Science

The Auxiliary electrode, often called as counter electrode, is used in a three electrode electrochemical cell for voltammetric analysis or other reactions in which an electrical current is expected to flow.

In the history of thermodynamics, 'On the Equilibrium of Heterogeneous Substances' is a 300-page paper written by American mathematical-engineer Willard Gibbs. It is one of the founding papers in thermodynamics.

The ground state of a quantum mechanical system is its lowest-energy state; the energy of the ground state is known as the zero-point energy of the system. An excited state is any state with energy greater than the ground state. The ground state of a quantum field theory is usually called the vacuum state or the vacuum.

Helmholtz free energy is a thermodynamic potential which measures the “useful” work obtainable from a closed thermodynamic system at a constant temperature and volume. For such a system, the negative of the difference in the Helmholtz energy is equal to the maximum amount of work extractable from a thermodynamic process in which temperature and volume are held constant.

Thermal capacity, is the measurable physical quantity that characterizes the amount of heat required to change a substance's temperature by a given amount. In the International System of Units (SI), heat capacity is expressed in units of joule(s) (J) per kelvin (K).

A rotating ring-disk electrode (RRDE) is double working electrode used in hydrodynamic voltammetry, very similar to a rotating disk electrode (RDE). The electrode actually rotates during experiments inducing a flux of analyte to the electrode.

The quinhydrone electrode is a type of redox electrode which can be used to measure the hydrogen ion concentration (pH) of a solution in a chemical experiment. It provides an alternative to the commonly used glass electrode in a pH meter.

The Severinghaus electrode is an electrode that measures carbon dioxide. It utilizes a CO₂-sensitive glass electrode in a surrounding film of bicarbonate solution covered by a thin plastic carbon dioxide permeable membrane, but impermeable to water and electrolytic solutes.

Hydrogen corrosion is a form of metal corrosion occurring in the presence of anoxic water. Hydrogen corrosion involves a redox reaction that reduces hydrogen ions, forming molecular hydrogen.

The Clark electrode is an electrode that measures oxygen on a catalytic platinum surface.

Intergranular corrosion (IGC), also known as intergranular attack (IGA), is a form of corrosion where the boundaries of crystallites of the material are more susceptible to corrosion than their insides.

An earth battery is a pair of electrodes made of two dissimilar metals, such as iron and copper, which are buried in the soil or immersed in the sea. Earth batteries act as water activated batteries and if the plates are sufficiently far apart, they can tap telluric currents.

A water-activated battery is a disposable reserve battery that does not contain an electrolyte and hence produces no voltage until it is soaked in water for several minutes.

Microbial corrosion, also called bacterial corrosion, bio-corrosion, microbiologically-influenced corrosion, or microbially-induced corrosion (MIC), is corrosion caused or promoted by microorganisms, usually chemoautotrophs. It can apply to both metals and non-metallic materials.

Stress corrosion cracking (SCC) is the unexpected sudden failure of normally ductile metals subjected to a tensile stress in a corrosive environment, especially at elevated temperature in the case of metals.

The Clark cell, is a wet-chemical cell that produces a highly stable voltage usable as a laboratory standard.It uses a zinc, or zinc amalgam, anode and a mercury cathode in a saturated aqueous solution of zinc sulfate, with a paste of mercurous sulfate as depolarizer.

Green death is a solution used to test the resistance to corrosion of metals. It consists of 11.9% sulfuric acid, 1.3% hydrochloric acid, 1% Iron(III) chloride and 1% Copper(II) chloride boiling at 103°C.

The Weston cell, invented by Edward Weston in 1893, is a wet-chemical cell that produces a highly stable voltage suitable as a laboratory standard for calibration of voltmeters. It was adopted as the International Standard for EMF between 1911 and 1990.