Ph responsive capsules containing composite coatings for corrosion inhibition in metal alloys.

摘要

Hexavalent chromes have been used as effective corrosion inhibitors due to their high inhibitor efficiency and low cost for the protection of several metal alloys. However, owing to their toxicity federal legislations restrict the use and distribution of these highly toxic materials. The need for an environmentally friendly yet effective alternative to the chrome based corrosion inhibitors has led to the investigation of rare earth metals as potential candidates. Cerium is one such rare earth metal that has received considerable attention as an alternative to hexavalent chromes. However, the high water solubility of some of the cerium salts makes it difficult for the incorporation of such salts in coatings.;In this work, pH responsive microcapsules containing cerium salts were synthesized using an internally phase separated emulsion polymerization technique. Core shell microcapsule consisting of a water core containing dissolved cerium salts were synthesized. The synthesized capsules were characterized using characterization techniques such as Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, UV-vis spectroscopy, Dynamic Mechanical Analysis (DMA), Thermo-Gravimetric Analysis (TGA), and Inductively Coupled Plasma Optical Emission Spectroscopy (ICP-OES). The structure and morphology of the capsules were studied using electron microscopy techniques. The synthesized capsules were dispersed in 2K epoxy coatings and applied on aluminum alloy 2024 T-3 and cold rolled steel substrates. These coatings were exposed to salt spray (ASTM B117) and electrochemically evaluated using electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS), potentio-dynamic(PD) polarization, cyclic voltammetry(CV), open circuit potential(OCP) measurements. Localized corrosion assessment was also performed on the coated metal alloys using Scanning electrochemical microscopy (SECM) to understand the mechanism of corrosion inhibition using cerium encapsulated microcapsules.