Designing a self-healable nano-structured thin film based on sustainable cerium-loaded ZIF8-MOF particles

Progressing the anti-corrosion performance of thin-film coatings has always been the focus of researchers. In this research, a novel high-resistance inorganic coating against corrosion was developed. For this aim, the steel plates treated with the Mn ion-containing zinc phosphate conversion coating were prepared and then covered with a layer of crystalline MOF nanoparticles. A robust self-healing effect was provided by the cerium cations loaded into the MOF thin coating, pores. FE-SEM, BET, XRD, and XPS were applied as the main analyses to characterize the successful formation of the conversion coating and the MOF grown on its layer. The uniformly grown MOF single crystals (particle size: 200–300 nm) could cover the porosities of the zinc phosphate coating so that no rust was detected after 600 h of keeping the sample in a very aggressive environment (salt spray chamber). Also; based on PDP results, the modified coating (ZPMnMOFCe) showed a sixty-fold drop in the corrosion rate compared to the uncoated plate. Meantime; after 24 h of exposure, its log|Z|10mHz was two orders of magnitude higher than that for the untreated mild steel.