Electrochemical Study of Unmodified and Inhibitor Doped Silane Films for Corrosion Protection of AA2024-T3

Abstract

Aluminum alloy was coated with unmodified and rare-earth inhibitor doped silane films. The role of number of hydrolysable groups, functional group and cerium ions towards film protective quality was investigated. The anti-corrosion performance was evaluated using electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS), d.c. potentiodynamic polarization and energy dispersive x-ray spectroscopy (EDS). The morphology was studied using scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Results indicate improved corrosion protection performance especially for cerium modified silane films with higher number of hydrolysable groups. Inhibitor doped silanes present a facile method for pre-treatment of aluminium alloys prior to deposition of top coat.