CHEMICAL INSIGHTS INTO THE INTERACTIONS OF THE ATMOSPHERE WITH METALS

Many processes of industrial, commercial, historical, or geophysical interest involve the interaction of the atmosphere with metals and their oxides. Although qualitative information on some of these interactions is available, few studies have approached the problem from the standpoint of quantitative results based on first principles. When that is done, the scenario is often seen to require close study of four physico-chemical processes: the rate and extent of deposition of water on the metal surface, the rate and chemical interactions involved in the dissolution of the surface oxide on the metal, the formation of chemical products within the aqueous solution on and within the porous, fragmented surface layer, and the rates and amounts of loss of products to surface deposition or surface flushing. Aspects and examples of these four processes are presented and discussed, and theoretical predictions amenable to confirmation by experiment are presented. © 1990.