Investigation on the corrosion protection ability of nanocomposite hybrid coatings

The electrochemical behaviour of sol-gel prepared, nanocomposite coatings was investigated with respect to proving their corrosion protective capabilities. Amorphous ZrO2(5 nm) and crystalline CeO2(10 mn) nanoparticles were embedded in the sol-gel matrices with solid content ranging 8% to 20%. The sol-gel coatings were applied on AA 2024 substrate. Additionally, a part of these sol-gel-coated samples was covered as an additional protection with two layers of an industrial paint system provided by the European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company (EADS). The thickness of the prepared single sol-gel coatings, and the top-coated samples varied between 13 to 19 gm, and from 40 to 78 pm, respectively. The corrosion protection performance of the obtained samples was determined by means of electrochemical measurements, including voltammetry and Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy (EIS).