ANALYSIS OF CORROSION RATE OF Zn AND ELECTRICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF Cu(Ag)-Zn ELECTRODES WITH THE USE OF Mg AS SACRIFICIAL ANODE IN SEA WATER BASED ELECTROCHEMICAL CELL
Mia Abi Nisa

Uniersitas Lampung

Abstract

This research was conducted to determine the corrosion rate of Zn protected with Mg metal as a sacrificial anode in electrochemical cell with Cu(Ag)-Zn electrodes, and to determine the electrical characteristics of the cell. Electrodes are made of Cu fibers with a length of 2 m per strand and Zn plates with dimensions of 10 cm long and 3.5 cm wide. Cu is coated with Ag metal using the electroplating method, while Zn metal is protected with Mg metal as a sacrificial anode. The experimental device consists of 20 electrochemical cells arranged in series, and each cell was filled with 300 mL of water. The electrochemical cell was connected to a 3 watt 12 volt LED load for 72 hours. The data collected are mass of Zn and electrical characteristics include voltage, current, and light intensity for 72 hours. From the results of Zn mass measurements before and after use, the corrosion rate was calculated, while the voltage and current were used to calculate internal resistance and power. The results showed that the use of Mg as a sacrificial anode resulted in better electrical characteristics including voltage, current, light intensity, and power, while reducing internal resistance compared to electrochemical cells without the use of a Mg sacrificial anode. The use of Mg sacrificial anode on electrochemical cells was found to lead to threefold decrease of corrosion rate of Zn electrode, compared to that of the cell without Mg sacrificial anode.

Keywords: Electrical characteristic- electrochemical cell- sacrficial anode- seawater

Topic: Physics