Anodic protection (
AP) is a potential-control electrochemical technique suitable for preventing corrosion of a metal in aggressive environments,
such as sulfuric acid (
H2SO4. In this technique, the metal to be protected must exhibit passivity at relatively low current density so that the passive
current density (
ip) is at least one order of magnitude lower than the corrosion current density (
icorr) care must be exercise in selecting a material that shows a wide enough passive potential range. Thus, the protective potential
is
Epa>
Ex<
Ep.
Furthermore, AP is normally used when coatings and cathodic protection methods do not provide adequate protection against
corrosion.