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Effect of pH on the Electrochemical Behavior of Tantalum in Borate Buffer Solutions

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Abstract

In this research, various electrochemical methods were used to investigate the electrochemical behavior of tantalum in borate buffer solutions of various pH values, ranging from 9.0 to 6.5. Potentiodynamic polarization curves revealed that tantalum showed excellent passive behavior in borate buffer solutions. The potentiodynamic polarization and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy results showed that the passive film formed on tantalum offered its best protective behavior when the pH is 8.0, with the passivity undergoing a drastic change as the pH moved toward higher values. The semiconductive behavior of the passive films formed on tantalum was investigated by employing Mott-Schottky analysis in conjunction with a point defect model. The results indicated that the passive film exhibited n-type semiconductive behavior and that donor densities were in the range of 1.958-7.242 × 1020 cm−3. Moreover, this analysis showed that the donor density and flat band potential were quite sensitive to the pH.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Corrosion Division, Research Institute of Petroleum Industry, Tehran, 1485733111, Iran

    F. R. Attarzadeh

  2. Department of Chemical and Materials Engineering, New Mexico State University, Las Cruces, NM, 88003, USA

    N. Attarzadeh

  3. Department of Materials Engineering, Bu-Ali Sina University, Hamedan, 65178-38695, Iran

    S. Vafaeian & A. Fattah-Alhosseini

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Attarzadeh, F.R., Attarzadeh, N., Vafaeian, S. et al. Effect of pH on the Electrochemical Behavior of Tantalum in Borate Buffer Solutions. J. of Materi Eng and Perform 25, 4199–4209 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11665-016-2295-x

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