Electrochemical aspects of surface/solution interactions in scale initiation and growth

An electrochemically based technique that uses the assessment of the oxygen reduction reaction at a rotating disk electrode shows promise as a method for studying nucleation and growth of scale at a solid surface. In this article, results are presented that illustrate the good correlation between the surface coverage predicted by electrochemical analysis and the actual coverage quantified by image analysis. Preliminary results in the presence of a 1 mg/L polyacrylic acid inhibitor have indicated that in an inhibited solution, the new technique is valid for the prediction of surface coverage. The potential of this technique for mechanistic studies of surface scaling and for the assessment of inhibitors is discussed.