An electrochemical impedance spectroscopy study on electrochemical dissolution and active/passive transition of polycrystalline nickel in acid media has been performed in sulfate and nitrate aqueous solutions. Oxygen favors the nickel electrodissolution in a nitrate aqueous acid medium, but the dissolution decreases in the sulfate medium due to nickel passivation. The anion and oxygen effect is analyzed from a model where Ni(I) species are stabilized on the Ni metal surface and all anions present in the solution compete in the neutralization of Ni(I) and Ni(II) and in the solubilization of Ni(II). (C) 2006 The Electrochemical Society.