Comparison of the surface and anticorrosion properties of SiO2 and TiO2 nanoparticle epoxy coatings

In this article we compare the morphology, wetting and anticorrosion properties of fluorosilane-modified TiO2, FAS-TiO2/epoxy and SiO2, FAS-SiO2/epoxy coatings.Thirty-nanometre TiO2 and SiO2 nanoparticles were spin coated onto the AISI 316L steel substrate and covered with a thin epoxy layer for nanoparticle fixation.The morphology of the coatings was analysed with SEM imaging and the average surface roughness (Sa), and it showed a homogeneous FAS-TiO2 nanoparticle distribution in the coating, whereas the FAS-SiO2 nanoparticles tended to agglomerate.Static water contact angles were measured to evaluate the wetting properties, indicating the highly hydrophobic nature of both coatings.Potentiodynamic measurements showed that the addition of nanoparticles to the epoxy coating significantly improved the corrosion resistance of the AISI 316L stainless steel.