Electrochemical Analysis of Mild Steel Coated with Polystyrene Based Nanocomposite Coatings Simulating Uniaxial Stress and Sea Water Service Conditions

Abstract

In modern science corrosion protection, has become a multidisciplinary subject. With development of new materials their anticorrosive properties in service conditions are important to study for their applications. In this work, Electrochemical analysis of Mild Steel coated with Polystyrene, Polymer blend (PANI-PS) and Nanocomposite (GNP’s Reinforced polymer blend) at uniaxial stress and unstressed conditions in sea water (electrolyte) was done. Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy (EIS) and Tafel Scan analysis tools were used on Gamry Potentiostat whereas Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) was done for qualitative analysis. In EIS test, PS showed higher charge transfer resistance than Polymer blend and nanocomposite. Whereas corrosion rate determined by Tafel scan for Polymer blend and nanocomposite coatings was lower that PS coated Mild steel. SEM showed salts deposits in after corrosion tested samples without showing any crack in coatings. Corrosion behavior of stressed and unstressed samples was same. Showing that generated strain because of applied stress was not enough to degrade coating mechanically. In response to this, coatings provided excellent corrosion protection in both stressed and unstressed conditions.