A comparison of the corrosion resistance of galvanized low steel with solgel method coated ZrO2, ZrO2+Polymer coating

The corrosion of steel is a significant and costly problem faced by various industries every day. Low-carbon steel is particularly important in the construction industry, where durable and long-lasting structures such as bridges, tunnels, towers, buildings, airports, roads, factories, and trains are essential. So, preventing the corrosion of steel has become crucial. For this reason, in this study, ZrO2 solutions were prepared using the sol-gel technique, and steel samples were coated by dip coating in these solutions once, three times, and five times. In addition, a polymer consisting of 3-glycidyloxypropyltriethoxysilane (GLYEO), 1,1,1-Tris(4-hydroxyphenyl) ethane (THPE), and N-2-aminoethyl-3-aminopropyl trimethoxysilane (DAMO) monomers was added to the prepared ZrO2 solutions, and another solution was obtained. The low-carbon steel surfaces were coated by the dip coating method only once with this modified solution, creating a one-layered coating. The morphology and surface characteristics of the coatings were examined using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS). The corrosion resistance of the coatings was evaluated using electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) in an aqueous solution containing wt. 3.5% NaCl. The measurement results indicate that the ZrO2 coatings with added polymer exhibit better corrosion resistance compared to both the ZrO2 coatings without the polymer addition and galvanized coatings.