Dr Kyra Sedransk Campbell – Electrochemical Techniques for Corrosion

In this ICAM webinar, Dr Kyra Sedransk Campbell, Royal Society – EPSRC Dorothy Hodgkin Research Fellow in the Department of Chemical Engineering at Imperial College London, explored the diversity of electrochemical techniques for understanding corrosion phenomena.

The wide reaching implications of corrosion problems cannot be overstated, with staggering global costs. However, it is an oversimplification to think of all the corrosion problems as a single phenomenon. We are better served to think of corrosion as a family of phenomena. The changes to the substrate in question can be chemical, electrochemical, and/or mechanical and all of these must be considered in the context of the environment in which the changes are occurring. In academia, the focus is to understand these underlying phenomena to help explain the corrosion behaviours observed. Developing this understanding is critical to developing adequate and appropriate corrosion mitigation strategies.

Dr Sedransk Campbell discussed how the evolution of how corrosion measurements are made, starting with a historical perspective. The discussion highlighted the importance of both immersion and electrochemistry as standard laboratory tools which can be employed as a means of enhancing understanding. In particular, the growing diversity of electrochemical techniques being employed to understand corrosion phenomena was explored in a few specific examples, including one from Dr Sedransk Campbell’s group.

Dr Kyra Sedransk Campbell is a Royal Society – EPSRC Dorothy Hodgkin Research Fellow in the Department of Chemical Engineering at Imperial College and the 2017 recipient of the IChemE Nicklin Medal for early career achievement.

She received her SB in Chemical Engineering from MIT, conducting an undergraduate thesis under the direction of Prof. KK Gleason.

Her PhD was awarded from the University of Cambridge in Chemical Engineering, under the direction of Prof. G.D. Moggridge, and was supported by the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship (USA).