Electrochemical synthesis of poly(o-anisidine) coatings on low carbon steel and evaluation of corrosion protection performance

Abstract

Poly(o-anisidine) (POA) coatings were synthesised on low carbon steel substrates by electrochemical polymerisation of o-anisidine under cyclic voltammetric conditions from an aqueous solution of sodium tartrate. The resulting POA coatings were uniform and strongly adherent to the substrates. The coatings were characterised by cyclic voltammetry, UV-visible absorption spectroscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction measurements and scanning electron microscopy. The ability of the POA coatings to protect the steel in an aqueous 3%NaCl solution was evaluated by the potentiodynamic polarisation technique and cyclic voltammetry. It was found that the POA coating ennobled the corrosion potential and significantly reduced the corrosion rate of the steel.