New Superhydrophobic Coatings for Protection Against Corrosion

Mitigation of metals and alloys’ corrosion is of a great importance because of the negative effect that corrosion causes for the environment and economy. In this study, a superhydrophobic polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) coating with oxide nanoparticles (< 100 nm) was synthesized using the electrospinning technique on pretreated Al and C-steel surfaces. The pretreatment of the metallic surfaces was done by immersing them in different inorganic corrosion inhibitors at different temperatures for different periods of time. A synergism effect, when using the superhydrophobic coating and the corrosion inhibitors, was found where the corrosion resistance increased significantly. The contact angle of the prepared superhydrophobic coating was found to increase to 155±2 through using the oxide nanoparticles, in addition to, the the PVDF and the adsorbed corrosion inhibitor. Contact angle measurements, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and atomic force microscopy (AFM) were used to characterize the coating and the target metallic surfaces. The corrosion resistance performance of the superhydrophobic surface formed on carbon steel and aluminum sheet was estimated by electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) measurements through creating appropriate equivalent circuit models.