Functionalized Electrospun Fibers for the Design of Novel Hydrophobic and Anticorrosive Surfaces

Abstract

In this work, a novel coating was deposited on aluminum alloy samples by using a combination of electrospinning and chemical vapor deposition (CVD-silanization) techniques in order to create a functionalized film with an enhancement of both corrosion resistance and hydrophobicity. The electrospinning technique makes the fabrication of highly crosslinked electrospun fibers possible by the combination of both poly(acrylic acid) and β-cyclodextrin, respectively, which can be easily functionalized in a further step by using the CVD-silanization process due to the evaporation of a hydrophobic molecule such as 1H,1H,2H,2H-Perflurodecyltriethoxysilane. In addition, the resultant electrospun fibers with a high degree of insolubility have been successfully fabricated and metal oxide nanoparticles (TiO2NPs) have been incorporated into the electrospun polymeric solution in order to improve the corrosion protection. The surface morphology has been determined by using light optical microscopy, atomic force microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, and water contact angle (WCA) measurements. The corrosion resistance has been evaluated by using both potentiodynamic polarization and pitting corrosion tests. Finally, the results related to WCA measurements after CVD-silanization corroborate that the surfaces have been successfully functionalized with a hydrophobic behavior in comparison with the electrospinning process, showing a considerable difference in the roughness.