Electrochemical corrosion resistance and susceptibility of 12Cr martensitic stainless steel in H2SO4

Corrosion susceptibility and inhibition of 12Cr martensitic stainless steel was evaluated in different sulphuric acid and the acid chloride concentrations. Corrosion inhibition of the tested samples in 1M H2SO4 was evaluated using potassium dichromate of different concentrations. The experiments were performed at ambient temperature using potentiodynamic polarization measurement. This paper reports the observed electrochemical response of the tested samples in the strong acid environments. Potentiodynamic polarization resistance technique was used to estimate the corrosion rate, the polarisation resistance and inhibition of the alloy samples tested. The results obtained showed some varied magnitude of corrosion susceptibility for the stainless steel at the different H2SO4 concentrations and also in the acid chloride test media. Corrosion inhibition of the tested samples was effectively achieved using the potassium dichromate inhibitor