3.2.1 Open‑circuit experiment
The open-circuit potentials (Eocpvalues) were recorded as a function of time for the coated and uncoated mild steel electrodes in 1.0 M HCl solution and were showed in Fig. 5. Comparing the initial potential value of Eocp for the uncoated mild steel (-452 mV) with the coated samples by PSA, PSA/100, PSA/101 and PSA/105 (-435, -420, -443 and − 445) which indicated more passivity of the coated mild steel than the uncoated one especially that coated with PSA/100. This behavior provided evidence on the ability of the polymer (PSA) doped with glass to protect mild steel against the corrosion in acidic medium. At the first 5 hours of immersion of the samples, the value of Eocp for the uncoated surface and coated with PSA/100 directed to more passive values then shifted to more negative for the uncoated, however, Eocpfor PSA/100 coated sample still nobler than the uncoated. This result indicates that the barrier efficiency of the coat diminished during the first hours of immersion due to the deterioration of the borate glass by hydrolysis from the coatdue to the penetration by ions through it, then metal ion sites can be hydrated that passivates the sample again that appears clear from the values of EOCPduring the 7 days of immersion[42].
These can be confirmed by the scanning microscope analysis as shown in Fig. 6 (a-e), the morphology of the uncoated mild steel immersed for 7 days in the acidic chloride solution shows amorphous surface containing the corrosion product with spreading of some pores filled with crystals from the chloride solution Fig. 6a; however, the coated mild steel surfaces with PSA, PSA/100, and PSA/105 show an absence of the pores and the presence of new feature with needle structure as shown in Fig. 6b, that filled the pores.It was also observed that the surface of the sample became coated with PSA/105 contains urchin like structure that confirms the leaching of CuO from the glass matrix to the coat surface.
3.2.2Potentiodynamic polarization measurements
The curves of potentiodynamic polarization for uncoated mild steel compared to coated mild steel after immersion in 1.0 M HCl solution are presented in Fig. 7 The curve shows that both the cathode branch and the anode branch are offset to more noble values for all coated samples except that coated with 105, however the change in corrosion potential (Ecorr) is very low which indicated that the presence of the coat affect both the cathodic and the anodic reactions. Deduction of the corrosion parameters from Tafel lines was occurred such Tafel slopes (bc, ba), corrosion current density (icorr) and Ecorr are presented in Table 3. The corrosion current density values of (\(\:{i}_{corr}^{{\prime\:}}\)) for coated mild steel samples in HCl are lower than the corrosion current density value for uncoated mild steel (\(\:{i}_{corr})\). The inhibition efficiency IE% value was calculated from the corrosion current density by using this formula:
$$\:IE\%=\:\frac{{i}_{corr}-\:{i}_{corr}^{{\prime\:}}}{{i}_{o}}\:x\:100$$
1
Where, \(\:{i}_{corr}\)and \(\:{i}_{corr}^{{\prime\:}}\)are the corrosion current density for uncoated and coated mild steel.
For the coated sample, corrosion current density decreases with graftingthe PSA by glass, however presence of CuO in the glass composition decreases inhibition efficiency from 94.6% (0 CuO) to 85.9% ( 1.5 CuO) but still the corrosion behavior is better than the uncoated sample. This behavior may be due to the introduction of copper oxide as modifier to the glass network modifier and subsequently Cu atoms will occupy the intersites thatdirectedthe formation of non-bridging oxygens (NBOs) and the structure opening as (BO3) units is dominant and as a result the decrease in the volume occurred [43]. Opening the glass network gives the chance to the reaction with the surrounding ions that decreases the corrosion inhibition.
Table 3
The Corrosion parameters for Mild steel in 1.0 M HCl without (Blank) and with coating by different coats at room temperature.
Sample
|
ba mV/dec
|
bc mV/dec
|
Ecorr, mV
|
Icorr, mA/cm2
|
Rp, Ω.cm2
|
IE, %
|
---|
Blank
|
110.1
|
-132.4
|
-431.4
|
2.0316
|
12.28
|
--
|
PSA
|
73.0
|
-93.8
|
-429.6
|
0.1217
|
148.90
|
94.0
|
100
|
66.8
|
-80.1
|
-426.4
|
0.1098
|
150.90
|
94.6
|
101
|
90.4
|
-89.5
|
-425.0
|
0.2018
|
95.85
|
90.0
|
103
|
84.6
|
-102.5
|
-416.7
|
0.2587
|
70.78
|
87.3
|
105
|
76.8
|
-115.3
|
-406.8
|
0.2859
|
67.14
|
85.9
|
Electrochemical impedance is an electrochemical technique which is extensively used to evaluate the diffusion of the ions through coats, detect the flaws in coated materials as well as to determine the effectiveness of the coat [44–46].
A typical Nyquist plots for uncoated and coated mild steel after immersion for 5 min in 1.0 M HCl were shown in Fig. 8 (a) which showed one dispersed semicircle for the coated and uncoated sample. The diameter of the circle increases in case of coating mild steel indicating more resistant of the coated samples to the electrolyte attack than the uncoated sample.
The experimental impedance data fitted to the equivalent circuits shown in Fig. 8(b) which consists of the solution resistance (Rs) in series with the charge transfer resistance (Rct) that is parallel to the constant phase element (CPE), Q, which includes two parameters Yo (modulus of the CPE) and n (the phase shift deviation parameter). The phase constant impedance can be given by the following relation; [47, 48]
ZCPE = 1/Yo (j ω)n
Where ω is the angular frequency and j is the imaginary number. The fitted parameters for both uncoated and coated mild steel are given in Table 4. It was noticed that coating containing 100 represented the higher value of resistance which indicated lower penetration of electrolyte chloride ions to the coat and higher passivity of the mild steel surface. In addition, the value of n in case of 100 coat is near to 1 which indicating more homogeneity of the surface. As shown in the polarization results, all the coats can protect mild steel from attack with electrolyte ions by different degree.
Table 4
Equivalent circuit parameters for Mild steel uncoated and coated by different coats after steady state of immersion in 1.0 M HCl at room temperature.
Type of Coat
|
Rs
(Ω)
|
Rct
(Ω cm2)
|
Qads
|
---|
Y
(mΩ−1cm−2)
|
n
|
---|
Blank
|
2.69
|
7.86
|
2.1
|
0.72
|
PSA
|
3.07
|
15.78
|
52.0
|
0.90
|
100
|
3.05
|
48.51
|
423.0
|
0.96
|
101
|
3.25
|
18.25
|
312.0
|
0.83
|
103
|
2.83
|
16.17
|
309.0
|
0.90
|
105
|
2.26
|
13.87
|
889.0
|
0.78
|
Over 7 days, EIS were performed for mild steel coated with PSA/100 in 1.0 M HCl and a typical Nyquist plots are shown in Fig. 9 (a). As shown from the figure, the radius of the semicircle increased with time of immersion until reaching 120 min then a notable decrease was detected but the semicircle diameter after 7 days of immersion in HCl is still larger than the uncoated mild steel indicating passivation of the coat even after 7 days of immersion. The increase in the coat resistance all over the first 120 min indicates that the formed corrosion products due to the high attack of electrolyte ions can work also as barrier against attacking corrosive materials therefore the resistance increases.
Comparison of polarization curves of uncoated and coated mild steel after immersion in 1.0 M HCl for 7 days shows in Fig. 9(b), which indicated a shift of both the cathodic and anodic branches of Tafel curves to more noble values indicating passivation of mild steel due to coating even after long immersion. It was also observed that the corrosion current density decreased (Table 5).
The detected passivation data of the coated mild steel in aggressive acidic chloride solution from OCP, polarization and EIS measurements can be rendered to the duel effect of polymer and glass in the coat structure, revealing that the presence of glass grafted in the polymer PSA can help in improving the corrosion resistance of the coat
Table 5
The Corrosion parameters for Mild steel coated and uncoated by different coats at room temperature after 7 days of immersion in 1.0 M HCl.
Sample
|
ba mV/dec
|
bc mV/dec
|
Ecorr, mV
|
Icorr, mA/cm2
|
---|
uncoated
|
103.1
|
-98.2
|
-434.63
|
1.5700
|
PSA
|
89.3
|
-102.1
|
-473.93
|
0.5687
|
100
|
65.8
|
-118.9
|
-451.99
|
0.4862
|
101
|
84.0
|
-74.5
|
-422.17
|
0.6248
|
103
|
101.2
|
-143.5
|
-447.33
|
0.6679
|
105
|
105.7
|
-193.3
|
-407.51
|
0.7108
|