0 Copyright 1987 American Chemical Society
The ACS Journal of
Surfaces and Colloids NOVEMBER/DECEMBER, 1987 VOLUME 3, NUMBER 6
Articles Symposium on Corrosion: Preface Among the scientific endeavors presently being carried out by mankind, research and development in the area of corrosion can provide, perhaps, the most imminent and real benefits to society. This is due to the enormous costs of degradation of technologically important materials by corrosion processes. It is not generally recognized that the expenses related to corrosion in the United States, measured in 1974 dollars, amount now to $105 billion. Aside from the monetary costs, corrosion also inflicts damage upon the quality of human life. About 15% of this cost could have been saved by using already available technologies and the protective procedures worked out by corrosion scientists and engineers. This shows that progress is sought not only in the expansion of the scope of corrosion research but also in publicizing the unique opportunities of the industrial application of the results and expertise available in corrosion-oriented literature. Neither is it very often recognized that corrosion is a modern interdisciplinary area of science which combines electrochemistry, gas-phase and solution surface science, materials science, and solid-state physics. Recent methods of protection of solid surfaces against degrading attacks by our modern-day environment include laser surface melting and ion implantation. The techniques for studying corrosion mechanisms include both in situ probes, such as Raman and IR spectroscopy and SEXAFS, and ex situ ultra-high-vacuum surface analytical techniques and electron microscopies. The application of scanning tunneling microscopy for corrosion research, a technique described no earlier than 1983, has already been reported. The progress in absorbing the novel techniques and technologies in corrosion research seems unmatched by other areas of applied science. This issue contains texts of representative invited papers presented at the Symposium on Corrosion held at the 191st National Meeting of the American Chemical Society, April 13-18,1986, in New York. The Symposium was sponsored by the Division of Colloid and Surface Science of the American Chemical Society and was organized by A. Wieckowski (University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign) and J. B. Lumsden (Rockwell International, Thousand Oaks). Distinguished speakers representing laboratories from nine different countries participated in the 4-day symposium. In addition to the invited talks, five contributed papers were presented. The purpose of the symposium was to bring together people directly and indirectly related to corrosion research. 0743-7463/S7/2403-0859$01.50/0
The former included corrosion practitioners and theorists while the latter included electrochemists, surface and materials scientists, and photochemists. It was an objective of the symposium organizers to promote further interactions between these people in the proscience atmosphere of the ACS National Meeting. Likewise, the Symposium on Corrosion provided a perspective of current research on corrosion and modern corrosion methodology and offered an opportunity for chemists participating in the ACS meeting to become familiar with the scope of corrosion research. The program of the symposium was divided into five subject categories: (1)The theory and practice of corrosion, which included sessions entitled physical aspects, oxidation, and properties of alloys. (2) New methods of corrosion and materials science (two sessions). (3) Corrosion protection (one session). (4) Breakdown of passivity (one session). (5) Stress corrosion cracking (one session). The sessions were chaired by internationally prestigious speakers: N. Armstrong (University of Arizona), R. P. Frankenthal (Bell Laboratories), R. F. Hochman (Georgia Tech.), J. Kruger (Johns Hopkins University), C. E. Locke (University of Oklahoma), and D. D. Macdonald (SRI International). The opening session was chaired by A. Wieckowski. The organizers hope that the papers presented at the Symposium on Corrosion will stimulate progress in corrosion research and will bring further attention to the importance and achievements of this area of science. An international symposium of this scale could not have been achieved without substantial financial assistance for the speakers invited from abroad. On behalf of the participants and organizers, we gratefully acknowledge the support of the donors of the Petroleum Research Fund, administered by the American Chemical Society (ACSPRF grant for scientific education); the Division of Colloid and Surface Chemistry of the ACS; Electromatic, Santa Barbara, CA; and VG Instruments, Stamford, CT.
Andr zej Wiec kow ski Department of Chemistry University of Illinois Urbana, Illinois 61801 0 1987 American Chemical Society
