Sol-gel thin films for corrosion protection

Abstract

The preparation of sol-gel coatings with specific chemical functions offers potential advantages over traditional methods as it offers tailoring of their structure, texture and thickness and allows the fabrication of large coatings. The chemical protection of 316L stainless steel has been verified for ZrO2, TiO2---SiO2 and Al2O3---SiO2 coatings. The anticorrosion behavior of the films have been characterized in acidic and basic media by weight and loss, electrochemical techniques, XRD and FTIR and SEM spectroscopic techniques. Analysis of the data indicates that the films act as geometric blocking layers against exposure to the corrosive media and increase drastically the lifetime of the substrate (for instance up to 10 for stainless steel).