The conditions necessary to improve the adhesion of polymeric coatings to surfaces of aluminum alloys, AA2024-O (AA), were studied. The process considered a pre-conditioning of the metal surface by a transesterification reaction process with methyl methacrylate as an ester, by the generation of a terminal double bond on the surface of the alloy.

The potentiodynamic measurements show that coated specimens that were preceded by a transesterification process (AA-TE-PMMA), reveal a significantly lower corrosion current than those coated without transesterification pretreatment and a greater region of passivity.

From the analyzes obtained by XPS spectroscopy and also from the morphologies and thicknesses of the coatings obtained by SEM observations of the ultramicrotomed sections of the coated specimens, it is possible to infer the formation of a bond between the monomer group carrying the double bond and the metal surface. Furthermore, it is evident that the presence and lability of the double bond in the monomer, which functionalizes the surface, allows improving the adhesion of the polymer film, subsequently generated by radical polymerization. The protective capacity of the coating is even evident after 30 days of immersion in an aqueous solution of chloride.