Organic coatings have been widely used for most steel structures as a cost-effective way for corrosion protection and ornamental design. Various methods have been suggested in order to check a degree of corrosion of organic coated metals. For example, visual observation and gloss measurement are well known as typical evaluation methods for organic coated metals.In this study, the corrosion performance of organic coated steels exposed to corrosive environment was estimated by surface potential measurement. In this study, the corrosion behavior of organic coated steels exposed to corrosive environment was monitored by surface potential measurement. In addition, the change in surface potential distribution was compared with the result of electrochemical impedance measurement in 0.5 M NaCl solution after measuring the surface potential.

Carbon steel of the size of 3cm x 5cm was used as a substrate, and the organic coated steel samples were prepared by spraying a clear acrylic lacquer coating. Wet-dry cyclic corrosion test was conducted by alternating the condition of adding 20μl droplet of 0.5M NaCl solution and drying at 293K and 40%RH.

After several cycles, a part of the surface exposed to corrosive environment showed lower potential than the other area. As the corrosion proceed, the change area grew up and the surface potential further declined. The electrochemical impedance characteristics also changed with an increase of wet and dry cycle number. The change in surface potential corresponds to that in the impedance characteristics, indicating that the deterioration process of the coated steel can be monitored by the surface potential measurement from the stage of the coating film deterioration.