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Iron Corrosion

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Iron Corrosion

The oxygen in the air dissolves in the water and causes corrosion of Iron. There are always two distinct chemical reactions in a corrosion process, the basic chemistry of Iron corrosion is:

1) Anodic Dissolution of Iron that goes into solution (water)

Fe  ----->   Fe2+  +   2e-

2) Cathodic Reduction of Oxygen dissolved into water

O2  + 2H2O + 4e- ---->  4OH-  

The final reaction is:  Fe2+ + 2OH-  ----->  Fe(OH)2

Fe(OH)2  will then reacts with oxygen to give iron oxides: Fe2O3 (red) and Fe3O4 (black)

 

Corrosion of Iron in contact with water