Effect of Cu Addition on the Corrosion and Antifouling Properties of PEO Coated Zinc-Aluminized Steel

In the present work, Plasma Electrolytic Oxidation (PEO) coatings were produced on zinc-aluminized carbon steels (Galvalume commercial treatment). In addition, copper particles of various sizes were introduced into the coating in order to produce samples with antifouling properties. The particles were successfully embedded into the coating. A higher number of embedded particles was observed when these are in sub-micrometric size and obtained in pulsed current. The presence of particles produces significant antifouling properties on the sample's surfaces during the first 20 days of immersion. The presence of the particles reduces the corrosion resistance in comparison to the samples PEO coated without the particles; however, the corrosion resistance remain higher than the one of the untreated sample.

Automated summary

In this study, PEO coatings were produced on zinc-aluminized carbon steels using copper particles. The presence of sub-micrometric copper particles, obtained with pulsed current, significantly increased the number of embedded particles in the coating. The samples exhibited significant antifouling properties within the first 20 days of immersion. However, the presence of particles reduced the corrosion resistance compared to the samples without particles, although it remained higher than the untreated sample.