A systematic study of hydrogen permeation and its inhibition during a ferrous metal cleaning process was carried out. The amount of hydrogen that permeates a mild steel electrode of varying thickness was investigated by the Devanathan-Stachurski
method in commonly used cleaning solutions with or without corrosion inhibitors. The corrosion rates of the
electrodes were determined by electrochemical methods at the same time. Specular reflectance FTIR spectroscopic
measurements were used to obtain the structural information on the electrode/solution interface. The data were used to develop an effective method to prevent hydrogen damage in iron oxide cleaning processes.
Keywords: Acid corrosion, chemical cleming, citric acid, diethylthiourea, dodecyl pyridmium chloride, hydrochloric acid,
hydrogen, hydroxyethylidene diphosphonic acid, inhibitor, IR spectroscopy, mild steel, permeation, rust removal.