Protective Efficiency of ZrO2/Chitosan “Sandwich” Coatings on Galvanized Low-Carbon Steel

Abstract

Enhanced corrosion efficiency of low-carbon steel was achieved by newly developed hybrid multilayers, composed of low-carbon steel coated with an electrodeposited zinc sublayer (1 µm), a chitosan (CS) middle layer and ZrO2 coating by the sol–gel method (top-layer). The middle chitosan layer was obtained by dipping galvanized steel substrate in 3% tartatic acid water solution of medium molecular-weight chitosan, composed of β-(1–4)-linked D-glucosamine and N-acetyl-D-glucosamine with a deacetylation degree of about 75–85% (CS). The substrates were dipped into CS solution and withdrawn at a rate of 30 mm/min. One part of the samples with the CS layer was dried at room temperature for 2 weeks, and another part at 100 °C for 1 h, respectively. After CS deposition treatment, the substrates were dipped into an isopropanol sol of zirconium butoxide with small quantity of polyethylene glycol (PEG400). The dipping-drying cycles of the ZrO2 coatings were repeated three times. After the third cycle, the final structures were treated at 180 °C. The samples were denoted as T25, which consists of the CS middle layer, and dried at RT and T100 with the CS middle layer treated at 100 °C, respectively. The samples were characterized by means of differential thermal analysis (DTA-TG), XRD analyses, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and atomic force microscopy (AFM). Hydrophobicity properties were evaluated by measuring the contact angle with a ramé-hart automated goniometer. Two electrochemical tests—potentiodynamic polarization technique (PD) and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS)—have been used to determine the corrosion resistance and protective ability of the coatings in a 5% NaCl solution. The results obtained by both methods revealed that the applied “sandwich” multilayer systems demonstrate sacrificial character and will hopefully protect the steel substrate in corrosion medium containing chloride ions as corrosion activators. The newly obtained hybrid multilayer coating systems have dense structure and a hydrophobic nature. They demonstrated positive effects on the corrosion behavior at conditions of external polarization independent of their various characteristics: morphology, grain sizes, surface roughness and contact angle. They extend the service life of galvanized steel in a chloride-containing corrosion medium due to their amorphous structure, hydrophobic surface and the combination of the positive features of both the chitosan middle layer and the zirconia top layer.