Properties of Post-Consumer Polyethylene Terephthalate Coating Mechanically Deposited on Mild Steels

Abstract

An anticorrosive coating of post-consumer polyethylene terephthalate (PET) was applied on carbon steel by using an industrial press. The PET layer showed a good adhesion on the substrate, evaluated by using a pull off test, when compared with the traditional organic coatings. In addition, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) analysis showed that the PET layer was uniform, homogeneous, and free of cracks or defects. The Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) proved that the PET properties were not affected by the deposition process. The PET organic coating is a promising coating, due to its corrosion resistance evaluated by using salt spray tests, even though the applied thickness of 65 µm was considered thin for a high-performance coating. The electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) showed that the PET coating has a capacitive effect and its electrochemical behavior was not affected as the exposure time increased, resulting in an impedance modulus value of 1010 Ω·cm2, after 576 h of immersion in an aqueous solution of NaCl 3.0 wt %.