ABSTRACT
References ............................................................................................................ 263
7.1 INTRODUCTION
The purpose of this chapter is to give a general background of infrared (IR) spec-
troscopy, and to show the capability of IR spectroscopy in corrosion science. It starts
with a section covering the underlying theory, continues with sections on the instru-
mentation used and the most important techniques available, and ends with a
selection of papers, in which IR spectroscopy has been applied to understand
corrosion-related phenomena. The selection is based on an extensive literature search
that resulted in more than 300 papers published over the last 20 years or so. The
literature search shows a significant increase in the number of papers published, from
approximately 15 each year around 1990 to almost 40 each year 10 years later. Most
studies use IR spectroscopy in the reflection-absorption mode (IRAS) under ex situ
conditions, and IRAS is thus the technique that will be most extensively treated here.
