Damage-Tolerant Wood Layers for Corrosion Protection of Metal Structures

Mechanically strong and damage-tolerant corrosion protection layers are of great technological importance. However, corrosion protection layers with high modulus (>1.5 GPa) and tensile strength (>100 MPa) are rare. Here, we report that a 130 μm thick densified wood veneer with a Young's modulus of 34.49 GPa and tensile strength of 693 MPa exhibits both low diffusivity for metal ions and the ability of self-recovery from mechanical damage. Densified wood veneer is employed as an intermediate layer to render a mechanically strong corrosion protection structure, referred to as "wood corrosion protection structure", or WCPS. The corrosion rate of low-carbon steel protected by WCPS is reduced by 2 orders of magnitude than state-of-the-art corrosion protection layers during a salt spray test. The introduction of engineered wood veneer as a thin and mechanically strong material points to new directions of sustainable corrosion protection design.