Introductory lecture on corrosion chemistry: a focus on anodic hydrogen evolution on Al and Mg

The increase in the rate of hydrogen evolution (HE) on dissolving Mg surfaces with increasing anodic current density or potential, which is sometimes called the negative difference effect, has been the topic of much discussion in recent years. A review of the very recent contributions to this subject is given in this paper. Increased catalytic activity of the corrosion product layer, either from the accumulated impurities or from the Mg oxy-hydroxide itself, is shown to have a minor influence on the anodic HE observed on dissolving Mg at high anodic current densities and potentials. Al exhibits similar characteristics during anodic polarization in concentrated HCl, although the anodic HE rate on Al is less than on Mg. Possible mechanisms for the anodic hydrogen are provided and implications in the area of intergranular corrosion and environmental cracking are discussed.