Use of Electrochemical Quartz Microbalance Technique for Corrosion Research

The corrosion of metallic materials in aqueous solutions involves atomicscale changes in mass, as well as changes in electrical parameters like current density and potential. Conventionally, corrosion analysts apply separate methods to determine these phenomena. However, electrochemical quartz crystal microbalance (EQCM) method provides an interesting advantage of simultaneously determining these parameters, in-situ. Functioning on the principle of the inverse piezoelectric effect, the EQCM can achieve this with greater simplicity, relative ease, and low cost. This chapter provides the principle of the EQCM, its instrumentation, and some applications of its applications for the study of electrochemical corrosion.