Corrosion protection performance of nano-TiO2-containing phosphate coatings obtained by anodic electrochemical treatment

Abstract

Abstract The efficacy of nano-TiO2-containing zinc phosphate coatings on low-carbon steel is investigated. Zinc phosphate coatings are electrodeposited on low-carbon steel (AISI 1015) keeping current density, deposition time and wt % nano-TiO2 at their respective levels. Corrosion protection performance of these coatings was assessed using potentiodynamic polarization curves and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) in 3.5% NaCl electrolyte. The morphology, the composition and the growth process of the zinc phosphate coating is investigated using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction (XRD) and electrochemical measurements. The XRD study reveals that the obtained phosphate layer contains traces of hopeite and phosphophylite. The formed zinc phosphate coating offers high corrosion protection in 3.5% NaCl solution, which is well supported by EIS studies. The presence of nano-TiO2 in the phosphate bath anticipated to offer a better surface coverage and reduction in porosity and forms more homogeneous coating, which is in agreement with the SEM studies. The optimization of the electrodeposition phosphating process for achieving better responses in terms of corrosion rate and coating resistance is addressed in this paper.