The anodic dissolution of nickel was studied galvanostatically in hydrochlo
ric acid solutions of various concentrations. The reaction orders with resp
ect to chloride ion and hydrogen ion concentrations were found to be 0.5 an
d 1.0, respectively. An anodic Tafel slope equal to 120 w 10 mV decade(-1)
was obtained. The dissolution rate of nickel at constant acid concentration
was increased with stirring of solution and increasing the temperature. Th
e activation energy, DeltaH, for the anodic dissolution process was found t
o be 12 kcal mol(-1). The presence of oxygen in solutions assisted the pass
ivation process. The effect of addition of aniline and some of its derivati
ves (o-, m- and p-anisidine) as inhibitors on the dissolution kinetics of N
i in 1M HCl was also investigated. The data revealed that addition of these
compounds inhibited the anodic dissolution of nickel without affecting the
Tafel slope, indicating that the adsorption of such inhibitors could not i
nterfere with the mechanism of metal dissolution.