Optical Studies of Dezincification in Alpha-Brass

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Abstract
Differential reflectometry was used to study the dezincification behavior of various α-copper-zinc alloys. Contrary to reports in the literature, it was found that brasses containing less than 15 At% zinc (red brass) dezincify when exposed to conditions of potential and pH represented by the “immunity” region of the experimental potential vs pH diagram for α-brass. The dezincification behavior of red brass differed both in degree and kind from that observed in yellow brasses. Cu-21.4% Zn alloys (yellow brass) showed dezincification in less than one hour potentiostating time at pH ∼4 and minus 105 mVSHE (minus 350 mVSCE). Cu-9.2% Zn alloys (red brass) required approximately 16 hours under these experimental conditions to dealloy to the same extent, as judged from instrumental signal intensity measurements. The loss of zinc at the surface was found to be 4.4% for a Cu-21.4% Zn alloy; 3.8% for a 9.2% Zn alloy; and 2.6% for a 5.3% Zn alloy. The presence of Cu2O as a surface reaction product retarded ...

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