Agar-based gel-electrolytes for corrosion diagnostic

• Applicant: Privatdozent Dr.-Ing. Andreas Heyn
• Subject Area: Coating and Surface Technology
• Term: from 2017 to 2023
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 330472124

In corrosion diagnostics, agar-based gel electrolytes are increasingly used as minimally invasive electrolyte variants. In the course of the current project, new diagnostic concepts are being developed, such as the application of bipolar electrochemistry with indicator-containing gel electrolytes, which will enable contactless testing of the corrosion resistance of high-alloy materials within a few seconds. Another application uses the reduced corrosiveness of alkaline gel electrolytes for the sensitive electrochemical detection of diffusible hydrogen in metals, which is to be developed into a novel H-sensor technology for metallic components. The interaction of gel electrolytes with metal surfaces has already been investigated in the project on several metal-gel variants, with a special focus on zinc and corrosion product layers on zinc. By a new manufacturing procedure of the gels, the range of gel electrolytes will be extended by medical-biological components, whereby a tissue-like environment for actively corroding implant materials will be simulated and thus these can be examined electrochemically and analytically more realistically.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants