Rusting of Iron
This requires two things:
- Oxygen
- Water
| Preventing the Rusting of Iron (in which iron oxidises into iron oxide Fe2O3) | |
| Using Barriers | Keep water/oxygen away from the iron by painting, coating with oil…etc. |
| Alloying the Iron | Such as allowing it with chromium and nickel to produce stainless steel |
| Using Sacrificial Anodes | Galvanising iron by coating it with a layer of zinc. Zinc is more reactive than iron and will corrode instead. During the process it loses electrons to form ions. These electrons flow into the iron so any iron atom which has lost electrons immediately regains them. These means even if the zinc is scratched, the iron won’t rust. |
More on sacrificial anodes – if the iron has already rusted, it can still be displaced by the more reactive zinc:
Fe2O3 + 3Zn -> 2Fe + 3ZnO
And this is the end.
Good luck!