An environmentally friendly coating for corrosion protection of aluminum and copper in sodium chloride solutions

Triacetoxyvinylsilane (TAVS) has been used as precursor to prepare sol-gel under aqueous conditions for the surface treatment of aluminium and copper metals. The corrosion behavior of the sol-gel-treated metals has been investigated with cyclic voltammetry, potentiodyamic polarization and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy. Results from the electrochemical measurements have shown that the TAVS sol-gel-coated metal provided a better corrosion protection than the triethoxysilane (TES) sol-gel-coated metal due to the hydrophobic nature of vinyl group. Contact angle measurements have been conducted and the results have been applied to explain the degree of the corrosion protection of the coating film. (c) 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.