Study on kinetics of cathodic reduction of dissolved oxygen in 3.5% sodium chloride solution

Electrochemical reduction of dissolved oxygen in seawater on metals is of great importance for corrosion studies. The present paper studied cathodic reduction of dissolved oxygen on Q235 carbon steel in 3. 5% sodium chloride(NaCl)solutions by cyclic voltammetry(CV), electrochemical impedance spectroscopy(EIS), rotating disk electrode(RDE)and rotating ring-disk electrode(RRDE). The cyclic voltammetric results demonstrated the cathodic process on Q235 carbon steel in O2-saturated 3. 5% NaCl solution contains three reactions:dissolved oxygen reduction, iron oxides reduction and hydrogen evolution. The peak potential of oxygen reduction reaction(ORR)is-0. 85 V vs Ag/AgCl, 3 molL-1 KCl. The E1S results indicated that the ORR occurring on Q235 carbon steel is a 4-electron process and that no finite diffusion is caused by the intermediate of H2O2 produced by ORR. The RDE and RRDE voltammograms confirmed the EIS results and it was found that the number of transferred electrons for ORR was nearly 4, I. E. , dissolved oxygen reduced to water.