A Comparative Study of Multifunctional Coatings Based on Electrospun Fibers with Incorporated ZnO Nanoparticles

Abstract

In this work, polymeric fibers of polystyrene (PS) with incorporated ZnO nanoparticles have been deposited onto an aluminum alloy substrate (6061T6) by using the electrospinning technique. In order to optimize the deposition process, the applied voltage and flow rate have been evaluated in order to obtain micrometric electrospun fibers with a high average roughness and superhydrophobic behavior. Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) has also been employed in order to corroborate the amount of ZnO incorporated into the electrospun fibers, whereas differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) has been performed in order to determine the glass transition temperature (T g ) of the polymeric electrospun fibers. In addition, a specific thermal treatment (T g + 20 • C) of the synthesized electrospun fibers has been evaluated in the resultant corrosion resistance. A comparative study with previously reported results corresponding to polyvinyl chloride (PVC) fibers is carried out along this paper to show the changes in behavior due to the different compositions and fiber diameters. The coating has produced an important reduction of the corrosion current of the aluminum substrate in two orders of magnitude, showing also an important enhancement against pitting corrosion resistance. Finally, this deposition technique can be used as an innovative way for the design of both superhydrophobic and anticorrosive surfaces in one unique step over metallic substrates with arbitrary geometry.

Electrospinning: A Powerful Tool to Improve the Corrosion Resistance of Metallic Surfaces Using Nanofibrous Coatings

“…The use of metallic oxide nanoparticles as corrosion inhibitors combined with synthetic hydrophobic polymeric precursors is another novel approach used for the development of long-term anticorrosive surfaces. Zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO NPs) embedded into polymeric precursors such as polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) [71], polyvinyl chloride (PVC) [72] or polystyrene (PS) [73], have been investigated. It has been commented that the electrospinning technique is an ideal strategy for constructing superhydrophobic surfaces on a large scale, being an increasingly hot research topic for a wide number of industrial applications [74].…”

“…Figure 11 shows the 2-dimensional (2D) atomic force microscopy (AFM) image of the PVC-ZnO nanocomposite coating with its corresponding roughness profile, showing surface morphology with an average roughness Ra of 427.5 nm. By using the same corrosion inhibitor, ZnO NPs, work [73] presents a comparative study of multifunctional coatings on electrospun fibres as a function of two different polymeric precursors with highly hydrophobic nature: poly(vinyl chloride) (PVC) and polystyrene (PS). The novelty of this work is that a specific thermal treatment of 20° higher than glass transition temperature (Tg) allows obtaining an excellent and better anticorrosion properties.…”

“…PVC/Ceria NPs Aluminium Cyclic potentiodynamic polarization and Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy (EIS) [66] PVA@PVDF doped with MBT Q345 carbon steel Scanning Kelvin Probe (SKF) and Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy (EIS) [67] PDMS/PDES@PVA DBTL@PVA Carbon steel Linear polarization [68] PVA@(OA+BTA) Carbon steel Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy (EIS) [69] Nylon/BTA Copper Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy (EIS) [70] PVDF-ZnO Aluminium alloy Tafel polarization curves and Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy (EIS) [71] PVC-ZnO Aluminium alloy (AA6061-T6) Tafel polarization curves and pitting corrosion [72] PVC-ZnO PS-ZnO Aluminium alloy (AA6061-T6) Tafel polarization curves and pitting corrosion [73] CA nanofibres and HAP/CHI solution by dip-coating 304 stainless steel Electrochemical polarization curves and electrochemical impedance [77] PCL and epoxy resin by spin-coating Carbon steel Linear sweep voltammetry [78] TPOZ+GPTMS and PVA doped with Ce(NO 3 ) 3…”

“…Cross-sectional SEM image of the PS (a) and PVC (b) electrospun fibre coating with their corresponding thickness. Reprinted with permission of[73].…”

Fabrication of a Conjugated Fluoropolymer Film Using One-Step iCVD Process and its Mechanical Durability

“…Superhydrophobic surfaces attracts considerable research attention as they are used in many industrial applications, including water repellents, antifouling, and self-cleaning surfaces [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12]. There are many methods and techniques to produce superhydrophobic surfaces such as metal etching [2,3], sol-gel processing [4], dip-spraying [5], electro-spray and spinning [6,11], combining solution and phase inversion process [7,8], solution method [9], ultrasound-assisted method [10], and plasma-based method [12]. However, most of these techniques are only suitable for nanostructures with fine surface roughness and are further limited to specific substrates such as metals.…”