Potentiometric determination of percent porosity in nickel electroplates on uranium metal

A potentiometric procedure has been developed to determine the percent porosity of nickel electroplates on uranium metal. In this case, percent porosity is defined as the ratio of the exposed uranium surface to the nickel electroplate surface times 100. Basically, this procedure exploits the high chemical reactivity between uranium metal and chloride ions in aqueous solution. It involves the potentiometric measurement of the corrosion potentials of coupled uranium/nickel metal electrodes in 0.01 molar potassium chloride solution versus a double-junctioned calomel electrode. A mathematical treatment of observed potentiometric measurements from a two-point calibration technique permits a best-fit calibration for a particular porosity determination on the same nickel-plated sample