Development of Electrodeposited Zn/nano-TiO2 Composite Coatings with Enhanced Corrosion Performance

Abstract

Pure zinc coatings have been found ineffective when are used in aggressive environments such as those which contain chlorides or industrial pollutants [1]. In this paper, Zn/nano-TiO2 composite coatings with various contents of TiO2 nanoparticles (diameter size of 10 nm) were prepared on low-carbon steel by electro-codeposition technique. The deposition was carried out at different cathodic potentials ranging from -1600 mV to -2100 mV for different deposition times between 5-15 min. Pure Zn coatings were also produced under the same experimental conditions for comparison. Present work aims to investigate the effects of selected electrodeposition parameters (cathodic potential, TiO2 nanoparticle concentration in the plating bath and electrodeposition time) on the corrosion behavior of electrodeposited Zn/nano-TiO2 composite obtained. The corrosion experiments were performed in natural seawater, using electrochemical methods such as open circuit potential, potentiodynamic polarization and linear polarization resistance. The results showed that the inclusion of TiO2 nanoparticles into zinc matrix lead to an improved corrosion resistance comparatively with pure zinc coatings obtained under similar conditions.