Recebido em 26/1/10; aceito em 19/8/10; publicado na web em 30/11/10 DETERMINATION OF THE CORROSION CURRENT DENSITY IN LOW CONDUCTIVITY MEDIA: THE USE OF MICROELECTRODES TO MINIMIZE THE OHMIC DROP. The gravimetric and electrochemical tests are the most common techniques used in determining the corrosion rate. However, the use of electrochemical polarization is limited to electrolytes with sufficient conductivity for which Tafel curves are linear. In this study, we investigated a technique in

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... ch working microelectrodes of AISI 1020 steel were used to obtain the Tafel curves in diesel oil. The strategy was to reduce the electrode area and hence the ohmic drop. The diameter of the microelectrode was reduced to a value where the compensation of the Tafel curves became unnecessary. The results showed that for electrodes with diameters below 50 µm, the ohmic drop tends to a minimum and independent of the microelectrode diameter.