A superhydrophobic anticorrosion silicone coating for covering cell body, joints and seawater storage in hydrogen production plants

Seawater electrolysis is one of the cost-effective techniques for producing hydrogen. To reduce the initial cost of hydrogen production plants, it is necessary to employ appropriate materials for electrodes, seawater storage, joints, and cell body. We recommend using A516 steel for seawater storage, and cell body. A516 steel is a medium-carbon steel with high strength and wear resistance, easy to work with, 6 times cheaper than stainless steel 316, and is widely used in oil and gas industry. However, it is prone to corrosion. For that, we developed an anticorrosion coating with high thermal and mechanical stress tolerance. The proposed coating is a room-temperature-vulcanizing (RTV) silicone mixed additives, adhesion promoter and fillers. The utilized adhesion promoter enhanced the adhesion by 5-fold, aluminum trihydrate (ATH) decreased the burning distance from 17 mm to 3 mm, and nanoparticles increased the contact angle to more than 160 degrees and contact angle hysteresis less than 3 degrees. The formulated superhydrophobic coating decreased the corrosion rate of A516 steel by 1673-fold from 200 mm/year to 0.12 mm/year. (C) 2022 Hydrogen Energy Publications LLC. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Automated summary

Seawater electrolysis is a cost-effective technique for producing hydrogen, using appropriate materials can reduce initial production costs. The recommended A516 steel, along with a developed anti-corrosion coating, can significantly decrease corrosion rates.