Influence of sulphite on the passivation of iron

Mossbauer spectroscopy and electrochemical measurements were used to study the passivation of iron and steels in a sulphite containing solution. The potentiodynamic curves show that passivation occurs at −140 mV potential vs saturated calomel electrode ( sce ). The main phase of the passive layer was found to be γ-FeOOH, while FeSO 4 ·H 2 O on the surface and FeSO 3 ·3H 2 O inside the layer were identified as minor phases in the case of polarization in a solution of pH 3.37. Only γ-FeOOH was observed on the surface of samples polarized at pH 6.6.