Raman spectroscopy in a confocal microscope was used to study electrochemically synthesized corrosion products from sour gas experiments. When exposed to oxygen-containing atmosphere, the initial mackinawite FeS corrosion product transformed under laser irradiation to hematite, Fe 2 O 3 . Measurements with a thin water layer on top of the corrosion products prevented the transformation, as drying was prevented. In situ Raman measurements of mackinawite formation avoided the problem of transformation completely. In situ and operando, the initially formed mackinawite showed two Raman peaks in the wavenumber range >180 cm −1 centered around 200-215 cm −1 and 285-300 cm −1 . On an empirical basis, these modes were assigned to a B 1g mode of the iron sublattice and an A 1g mode of the sulfur sublattice, respectively. A comparison with a literature assignment for aged mackinawite suggests that the aging observed involves significant changes in the sulfur sublattice. Corrosion of iron in H 2 S containing solutions is a general problem in crude oil and natural gas production, and is generally referred to as sour corrosion. Aqueous H 2 S solutions promote corrosion of steels, [1][2][3] but the exact nature and mechanisms of corrosion strongly depend on the reaction conditions. 4-7 While the process has been widely investigated for pure iron, [8][9][10][11][12] and carbon steels, [13][14][15][16][17] there is still a lack of understanding of the reaction path and electronic properties of the corrosion products.
18,19The chemistry of the corrosion products formed during H 2 Striggered corrosion is rather complex, as there are many different solids consisting only of iron and sulfur. 20 However, mackinawite has been found to be the initial, 8,21 and probably most important corrosion product, of iron in aqueous sulfide solutions as it was observed in reactions carried out over a wide range of pH and temperature. 11,19,[22][23][24] It possesses a tetragonal, layered crystal structure, [25][26][27] and can be synthesized by precipitation from solutions containing Fe 2+ and S 2− solutions, 28,29 or by reaction of sulfide solution with metallic iron. 19,21,26,30 In the field of microbially induced corrosion, sulfatereducing bacteria are known to transform sulfate compounds into iron sulfides, e.g. mackinawite. [31][32][33][34][35][36] Raman spectroscopy has become an important tool for identification of corrosion products. [37][38][39][40][41][42][43][44][45] Some major problems may still occur due to laser heating, fluorescence, or low sensitivity as a consequence of the small cross-sections of Raman scattering. However, the fact that glass and water are both very weak Raman scatterers makes this technique suitable for in situ measurements in aqueous environments.
46-48The presence of water has an additional positive effect on the process as it decreases the heating from the laser. The use of (in situ and operando) Raman spectroscopy for study corrosion process studies of iron in sulfide rich environments has been already repor...