Corrosion, from the Latin corrodere, means ‘‘to chew away’’, ‘‘to attack’’. It is
estimated that corrosion destroys one quarter of the world’s annual steel production,
which corresponds to about 150 million tons per year, or 5 tons per second. Of course,
corrosion is not limited to steel but affects all materials: metals, polymers and
ceramics. It is the result of chemical and/or physical interactions between the material
and its environment.