Effects of pH, Chloride, and Temperature on Copper Corrosion in an Aerobic Deep Geological Repository through Regression and Simulation Analysis

Effects of pH, Chloride, and Temperature on Copper Corrosion in an Aerobic Deep Geological Repository through Regression and Simulation Analysis | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Article Effects of pH, Chloride, and Temperature on Copper Corrosion in an Aerobic Deep Geological Repository through Regression and Simulation Analysis Yun-Ho Lee, Yong-Won Kim, Jung-Min Lim, Un-Su Kang, Jung-Gu Kim This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-5820453/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Published Journal Publication published 15 Dec, 2025 Read the published version in npj Materials Degradation → Version 1 posted 9 You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract The corrosion behavior of copper in aerobic deep geological repository (DGR) environment was investigated with respect to environmental factors (pH, chloride, and temperature) using electrochemical tests, surface analyses, response surface methodology (RSM), and corrosion simulation. A regression model describing the relationships between environmental factors and copper corrosion rate was developed using RSM. The corrosion rate of copper increased with increasing temperature and chloride ion concentration. Among the environmental factors, temperature had the most significant effect on the copper corrosion rate, while pH had little effect. This is attributed to chloride ions being the main reactive species in copper corrosion, with diffusion of reactive species and reaction rates increasing with temperature. The RSM results were consistent with the initial stage results of the corrosion simulation for the DGR environment. However, as time progressed, the corrosion simulation results indicated that only the effect of temperature was significant on the copper corrosion rate. This is due to the depletion of reactive species on the copper surface caused by their slow diffusion in the DGR environment. At this stage, the depletion of the oxygen as the oxidizing agent has the most significant effect. In conclusion, the RSM results effectively predict the corrosion rate of copper based on the environmental factors in the early stage of the DGR environment. However, the corrosion simulation revealed that the influence of environmental factors on the copper corrosion rate changes with immersion time. This study provides valuable insights into predicting copper corrosion in aerobic DGR environment. Physical sciences/Engineering Physical sciences/Materials science copper corrosion deep geological repository response surface methodology simulation Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Supplementary Files Supplementary.docx Cite Share Download PDF Status: Published Journal Publication published 15 Dec, 2025 Read the published version in npj Materials Degradation → Version 1 posted Editorial decision: Revision requested 03 Jul, 2025 Reviews received at journal 02 Jun, 2025 Reviewers agreed at journal 14 May, 2025 Reviews received at journal 09 Mar, 2025 Reviewers agreed at journal 18 Feb, 2025 Reviewers invited by journal 18 Feb, 2025 Editor assigned by journal 16 Jan, 2025 Submission checks completed at journal 16 Jan, 2025 First submitted to journal 13 Jan, 2025 You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. 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Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-5820453","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":403800454,"identity":"9f262be6-6e2f-4c35-9e11-4f36c12e9835","order_by":0,"name":"Yun-Ho Lee","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Sungkyunkwan University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Yun-Ho","middleName":"","lastName":"Lee","suffix":""},{"id":403800455,"identity":"d8a8c3d8-fc1c-483c-899d-ada0c73e057e","order_by":1,"name":"Yong-Won Kim","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Sungkyunkwan 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