The electrochemical techniques are widely used for fundamental studies of corrosion, as they provide tools for studies on the mechanisms and kinetics of corrosion reactions more quickly than the traditional gravimetric techniques. For their agility, these techniques are used to obtain rapid corrosion rates of metals in specific environments and to assess the effectiveness of corrosion inhibitors.

IPT´s Laboratory for Corrosion and Protection has a modern infrastructure for conducting a broad spectrum of electrochemical tests, including equipment such as potentiostats, frequency analyzers and zero resistance amperimeters for traditional measurements (polarization curves, impedance spectrocopy, RPL, electrochemical noise).

The Lab also is supplied with equipment for localized electrochemical techniques such as:

Scanning Kelvin Probe

Scanning Kelvin Probe - SKP
Used for the evaluation of electrochemical activity under nonconductive coatings, for the identification of anodic and cathodic sites on alloys and for verifying the effectiveness of corrosion inhibitor films;

Localized Impedance Spectroscopy - LEIS
The localized impedance spectroscopy has the same capacity of EIS to obtain information about corrosion mechanisms. However, it has higher special resolution (order of few mm2). The microprobe of LEIS system is positioned near the surface of electrodes subjected to corrosion processes which permits to acquire localized electrical signals from the electrochemical reactions. One of the most used application of LEIS aims at assessing degradation mechanisms of coatings applied on metals;

Scanning Vibrating Electrode - SVET
Used for studies of corrosion processes with very low current densities. This technique measures the intensity of local currents in active surfaces immersed in an electrolyte, identifying cathodic and anodic areas.

Scanning Electrochemical Microscopy - SECM
Used for in-situ studies of electrochemical reactions on metal surfaces.