What is corrosion. How to prevent …

It is defined as the natural process that causes the transformation of pure metals to undesirable substances when they react with substances like water or air. This reaction causes damage and disintegration of the metal starting from the portion of the metal exposed to the environment and spreading to the entire bulk of the metal.

There are various methods to prevent corrosion. These include,

1. Electroplating

It is the process by which a metal (I) is coated with a thin layer of another metal (II) using electrolysis. In this way, the new metal coating protects the metal (I) from corrosion.

2. Cathodic Protection

In this process, the base metal is connected to a sacrificial metal that corrodes instead of the base metal. By doing so this sacrificial metal (which is more reactive than the base metal) will give out electrons and get oxidised. The ions thus formed takes part in the corrosion reactions thereby saving the base metal.

3. Galvanization

This process involves coating iron with a thin layer of zinc. It is generally done by dipping iron in molten zinc. The zinc layer coating thus protect the iron inside from corrosion

4. Painting and Greasing

Providing a layer of paint or grease on the metal can prevent the exposure of the metal with the external environment thereby preventing corrosion.

5. Choosing the right material can also help prevent corrosion. Eg: Aluminium and stainless steel are highly corrosion resistant

6. Using corrosion Inhibitor

Corrosion inhibitors are chemicals which when added to the corrosion environment has the ability to cut down the rate of corrosion.