Corrosion Protection Properties of Cobalt Salt for Water-Based Epoxy Coatings on 2024-T3 Aluminum Alloy

In this paper, the efficiency and the inhibition mechanisms of cobalt salts (cobalt nitrate and cobalt-exchange silica Co/Si) for the corrosion protection of AA2024 were investigated in a neutral aqueous solution by using the electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) and polarization curves. The experimental measurements suggest that cobalt cation plays a role as a cathodic inhibitor. The efficiency of cobalt cation was important at the concentration range from 0.001 to 0.01 M. The formation of precipitates of oxides/hydroxides of cobalt on the surface at low inhibitor concentration was confirmed by the Scanning Electron Microscopy/Energy Dispersive X-Ray Spectroscopy (SEM/EDS) analysis. EIS measurements were also conducted for the AA2024 surface covered by water-based epoxy coating comprising Co/Si salt. The results obtained from exposure in the electrolyte demonstrated the improvement of the barrier and inhibition properties of the coating exposed in the electrolyte solution for a lengthy time. The SEM/EDS analysis in artificial scribes of the coating after salt spray testing revealed the release of cobalt cations in the coating defect to induce the barrier layer on the exposed AA2024 substrate.