Effect of glass dissolution on corrosion measurements

Abstract

BOROSILICATE glass is widely used in electrochemical and corrosion studies because of its transparency, rigidity, ease of fabrication and, in particular, its resistance to chemical attack. Some disadvantages of the use of glass at very high temperatures, such as its solubility and the risk of solution contamination in autoclave studies of aqueous electrochemical processes, have been pointed out by Jones and Masterson¹. In a previous communication² from this laboratory it was reported that at temperatures of 80 °C and above, appreciable dissolution of silica from glass can occur and that, in the corrosion of zinc, appreciable amounts of zinc pyrosilicate hydrate are present in the corrosion products. Later³, figures for the silica contamination of distilled water held in glass vessels at 90 °C were quoted and the possible implication of glass dissolution on the corrosion behaviour of mild steel discussed.