This paper deals with electrochemical behaviour of Cu24Zn5Al alloy in a sodium tetraborate solution (borax), in the presence of chloride ions and benzotriazole. It was found that during anodic polarization of the investigated alloy, in a sodium tetraborate solution, at lower potentials, copper (1)-oxide formed on the alloy surface. The voltammograms show peak potential shifts corresponding to the formation of Cu2O towards more positive values with longer immersion time. It was found that chloride ions had an activating effect in a sodium tetraborate solution containing various concentrations of chloride ions (0.001, 0.005, 0.010, 0.050 and 0.100 mol dm(-3) Cl-). It was observed that Cu24Zn5Al alloy corroded more intensely in more concentrated solutions and with longer exposure to Cl-. Investigations of the effect of inhibitor concentrations (8.4 x 10(-6), 8.4 x 10(-5), 8.4 x 10(-4) and 8.4 x 10(-3) mol dm(-3) BTA in 0.1 mol dm(-3) borax solution) showed that BTA had a good protective effect. The inhibiting effect of BTA was also confirmed with various times of immersion of this alloy in a 1.7 x 10(-2) mol dm(-3) solution of this inhibitor. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.