Study on a Titanate Film and its Photocathodic Protection Effect for 403 Stainless Steel

Abstract

TiO2 and titanate semiconductor nanomaterials have attracted tremendous interest due to their exceptional electronic and mechanical properties. In the present work, a titanate nanowire network film was prepared by a combined sol-gel and hydrothermal method. The morphology, chemical composition and photoelectrochemical behavior of the film were characterized by scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, and electrochemical techniques, respectively. The results showed that the titanate film exhibited a special three-dimensional porous structure composed of titanate nanowires. When the 403 stainless steel in a 0.5 M NaCl solution was coupled to the titanate film as a photoanode in a 1.0 M NaOH solution under illumination, its potential decreased by about 570 mV, indicating the film produced a good photocathodic protection effect for the steel. EIS measurements revealed that the charge transfer resistance of the electrochemical reaction process for the steel coupled to the titanate film decreased considerably.