A variety of techniques are available for monitoring metal corrosion in electrolytes. However, only some of them can be applied in the atmosphere, in which case a thin discontinuous electrolyte film forms on a surface. Traditional and state-of-the-art real-time corrosion monitoring techniques include atmospheric corrosion monitor (ACM), electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS), electrochemical noise (EN), electrical resistance (ER) probes, quartz crystal microbalance (QCM), radio-frequency identification sensors (RFID), fibre optic corrosion sensors (FOCS) and respirometry.
Technique | Environment * | Sensing Metal ** | Range of Measured Corrosion Rates ***, [µm·a−1] | References | Localised Corrosion Detection |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
ACM 1 | Outdoor exposures | Fe | 1 × 10−1–1 × 102 | [16,21,27,30][4][5]22,[6]23,[7]24,[8]25,[9]26,[10][11][12] | – |
Zn | Not calculated | [32][13] | |||
ACTs | Fe | 1 × 102 | [20][14] | ||
Laboratory tests | Fe | 1 × 101–1 × 103 | [19,31][15][16] |
Technique | Current Applications | Potential Fields of Application | Sensitivity * | Commercial Suppliers | Main Advantages | Main Drawbacks | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Coupons | Indoor and outdoor corrosivity classification according to standards Verification of other techniques |
Applicable in any environment | High at long exposure times, otherwise medium | Several | Standardised technique Easy data interpretation |
No real-time data Time-consuming |
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ACM | Outdoor monitoring TOW assessment |
Outdoor and indoor at higher RH | Medium | 1 | Not sensitive to temperature fluctuations Suitable for harsh outdoor environments |
Corrosion acceleration due to galvanic coupling Unclear data interpretation during rainfall Electrolyte presence required |
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EIS | Laboratory tests at higher RH and under thin electrolyte layers Assessment of protective coatings |
Outdoor and indoor at higher RH | Medium | 0 | Information about corrosion mechanism Non-destructive assessment of coatings |
Knowledge about investigated system needed for correct data interpretation Electrolyte presence required Unclear results under very thin electrolyte layers and in presence of thick corrosion products |
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EN | Outdoor corrosion monitoring | Outdoor and indoor at higher RH | Medium | 0 | Localised corrosion detection Corrosion mechanism determination |
Complex and unclear interpretation Electrolyte presence required |
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Zn | 1 × 101–1 × 103 | [19 | ||||||||||
ER | Indoor and outdoor corrosion monitoring, laboratory studies Corrosivity classification | ,[1531]][16] | ||||||||||
Applicable in any environment | High | 4 | Universal technique | High sensitivity Easy operation and data interpretation Optimal for uniform corrosion monitoring |
Sensitive to temperature fluctuations Limited possibilities in monitoring of non-uniform corrosion |
Cu | 1 × 101–1 × 103 | [19][15] | ||||
QCM | Indoor corrosivity classification Laboratory tests |
Indoor at lower corrosivity | High | 2 | High sensitivity and short response time Electrolyte presence not required |
Sensitive to temperature fluctuations, moisture and pollutants presence | Al | 1 × 101–1 × 103 | [19][15] | |||
Not suitable for harsh environments | ||||||||||||
RFID | Laboratory tests | Outdoor and indoor at higher corrosivity | Low | 0 | Compact and wireless Electrolyte presence not required |
Further development needed | ER | Outdoor exposures | Fe | 1 × 10−1–1 × 103 | [97,108,118][17][18][19] | [3,29,100][3][20] |
FOCS | [ | 21 | ] | |||||||||
None for atmospheric corrosion | Not clear yet, as the technique is at the development stage | Not available | 0 | Not known for atmospheric corrosion yet | Zn | 1 × 10−1–1 × 101 | [108][18 | |||||
Respirometry | Laboratory tests | ] | ||||||||||
Not clear yet, as the technique is at the development stage | High | 0 | High sensitivity | Information about corrosion mechanism | Cu | 1 × 10−1–1 × 100 | [120][22] | |||||
ACTs | Fe | 1 × 101–1 × 103 | [2,93,101,108,113,114,119][2][23][24][18][25][26][27] | |||||||||
Zn | 1 × 100–1 × 103 | [2,93,101][2][23][24] | ||||||||||
Cu | 1 × 103 | [2] | ||||||||||
Electrolyte presence not required | Sensitivity to RH, temperature and pressure fluctuations | Further development needed | Al | 1 × 10−1–1 × 101 | [29][20] | |||||||
Laboratory tests | Fe | 1 × 10−3–1 × 101 | [2,3,103][2][3][28] | |||||||||
Cu | 1 × 10−3–1 × 10−1 | [2,4,98,103][2][29][30][28] | ||||||||||
Ag | 1 × 10−3–1 × 101 | [4,98,117][29][30][31] | ||||||||||
Zn | 1 × 100–1 × 102 | [2] | ||||||||||
Pb | 1 × 10−3–1 × 102 | [109,110,112][32][33][34] | ||||||||||
Indoor exposures | Cu | 1 × 10−3–1 × 10−1 | [4,94,102,104,115,125][29][35][36][37][38][39] | |||||||||
Ag | 1 × 10−3–1 × 10−1 | [4,94,102,115,127][29][35][36][38][40] | ||||||||||
Pb | 1 × 10−2–1 × 101 | [102,115,116][36][38][41] | ||||||||||
EIS 2 | Outdoor exposures | Fe | 1 × 10−1–1 × 101 | [47,69][42][43] | [89,91][44][45] | |||||||
Cu | 1 × 102–1 × 103 | [120][22] | ||||||||||
ACTs | Fe | 1 × 102–1 × 103 | [70][46] | |||||||||
Laboratory tests | Fe | 1 × 10−1–1 × 104 | [45,48,50,52,71][47][48][49][50][51] | |||||||||
Zn-coated steel | 1 × 100–1 × 103 | [56,57,58,59][52][53][54][55] | ||||||||||
Zn | 1 × 101 | [44][56] | ||||||||||
Cu | 1 × 10−1–1 × 101 | [43,64,120][57][58][22] | ||||||||||
EN 3 | Outdoor exposures | Fe | 1 × 10−1–1 × 101 | [89,90][44][59] | [89,90,91,209][44][59][45][60] | |||||||
Cu | 1 × 10−2–1 × 102 | [86,209][61][60] | ||||||||||
QCM 4 | Laboratory tests | Cu | 1 × 10−1–1 × 100 | [147][62] | – | |||||||
Ag | 1 × 10−3–1 × 10−2 | [141,142,,146][63143,][64144,][65][66]145[67][68] | ||||||||||
Indoor exposures | Cu | 1 × 10−3–1 × 10−1 | [102,138][36][69] | |||||||||
Ag | 1 × 10−2–1 × 10−1 | [102,127,138][36][40][69] | ||||||||||
Co | 1 × 10−2–1 × 10−1 | [138][69] | ||||||||||
RFID | ACTs | Fe | 1 × 102–1 × 103 | [157,163][70][71] | [95,167][72][73] | |||||||
Laboratory tests | Zn | 1 × 101 | [95,[166,72167]][74][73] | |||||||||
FOCS | Fe | No data for atmospheric corrosion | – | |||||||||
Respirometry 5 | Laboratory tests | Fe | 1 × 10−1–1 × 102 | [200,205][75][76] | [195,197][77][78] | |||||||
Cu | 1 × 10−2–1 × 10−1 | [200][75] | ||||||||||
Al | 1 × 10−1–1 × 100 | [195][77] | ||||||||||
Mg | 1 × 101–1 × 103 | [195,197][77][78] |