Effect of Molybdate Bath Service Life on Corrosion Resistance of Conversion Coating Deposited on Hot Dip Galvanized Steel

Abstract

A conversion coating was obtained in the molybdate based bath on hot dip galvanized steel. The influence of the bath service life and bath component variation on the corrosion resistance of the conversion coating were investigated. Corrosion resistance of the coating was evaluated by electrochemical technique in 3.5%NaCl. It is found that the anodic branch of polarization curves presented in passivation character. Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) results confirm that the radius of the capacity impedance for molybdate film decreased with treating area, which reveals that the bath life and bath component variation affected anti-corrosion performance of the coating remarkablely. The bath constituent was analysed by inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry (ICP), and the results show that the bath will lose the passivation ability after treating 1.16m2 sample area for new prepared treating solution of 500ml. The surface morphologies of the coatings were observed using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and the element composition of the coatings was detected using energy dispersive X-ray (EDX). The investigation results indicate that uniform and compact film is formed on the surface of the galvanized steel, and the film is composed of zinc,oxygen, phosphor and molybdenum.