Diffusion of Oxygen in Zirconium and Its Relation to Oxidation and Corrosion

Vol. 105, No. 6 Conclusion In a s i l ver-z inc-a lka l i cell the zinc e lectrode is a t tacked and oxid ized by oxygen. When no d ia-phragm is present to reduce or e l iminate diffusion, d issolved s i lver oxide migrates to the zinc e lectrode where it is reduced and forms a sol id solut ion wi th the zinc, or else is depos i ted as such. This enables zinc or s i lver-z inc sol id solut ion to prec ip i ta te f rom the e lect ro lyte in a spongy form on the zinc elec-t rode dur ing open-c i rcu i t condit ions and this may act as a short between the plates. Acknowledgment The authors wish to express thanks to the Office of Nava l Research for sponsor ing this project, to the New Je rsey Zinc Sales Company for furn ish ing some of the mater ia ls, and to Mrs. Jeanne Burbank for her help in in terpret ing the x- ray work. CORROSION OF THE Z INC ELECTRODE 315 Manuscript received Nov. 4, 1957. Any discussion of this paper wil l appear in a Dis-cussion Section to be published in the December 195