The mechanism of anodic dissolution of cobalt in neutral and alkaline electrolyte at high current density

The anodic dissolution of cobalt is investigated in neutral and alkaline electrolytes at high current densities. Beside electrochemical measurements, the amount of dissolved cobalt is investigated by UV-vis-spectroscopy. The measurements are completed by optical measurements of the metal removing. It is shown that cobalt can be anodically dissolved in alkaline solutions by using a complexing agent. In this case the current efficiency is approximately 91%. The continuous anodic dissolution of cobalt starts in the transpassive range.