4.3. The effect of electrolyzing factor on the decontamination effect
The electrode reaction would not take place until the voltage went up to 2.1 V. At this voltage, the current increased sharply, the Fe in the stainless steel sample was oxidized to Fe2+ and the uranium ions in the stainless steel moved into the coating film with Fe2+. When the voltage continued to increase, an additional reaction took place on the anode, producing O2 which would make the film fall off.
Fig. 6 shows the effect of electrolyzing time on the decontamination ratio. Initially, the decontamination ratio increased in the first 25 min due to the uranium ions consecutively moving into the coating film. After a duration of 30 min, the ratio did not change much because the transporting process was almost completed.