Understanding electrodeposition of polyaniline coatings for corrosion prevention applications using the wire beam electrode method

Polyaniline (PANI) films have been successfully electrodeposited on aluminium AA1100 electrode surfaces in acidic electrolytes as anti-corrosion coatings. The wire beam electrode (WBE) has been applied for the first time as a novel toot to monitor the electrodeposition processes; and also to understand the anti-corrosion performance and mechanism of the PANI coatings. During PANI electrodeposition, the WBE was polarised anodically, and anodic polarisation currents were measured from various locations over the WBE surface to produce anodic polarisation current maps (APC maps). Preliminary experiments have revealed that if an AA1100 electrode was not pre-treated, APC maps would show a localised anodic current distribution, resulting in a nonuniform PANI deposit. If the AA1100 electrode was pre-treated by a cathodic polarisation process, APC maps would show a random anodic current distribution, leading to a PANI coating covering the whole electrode surface. When exposed to a corrosive environment, PANI coatings were found to prevent localised corrosion of AA1100, primarily by enhancing its passive film rather than by a barrier mechanism. However, a nonuniform PANI coating has been found to accelerate general corrosion of AA1100. These results suggest that the WBE is a practical tool for monitoring, characterising and optimising PANI electrodeposition processes and for evaluating the anti-corrosion performance of PANI coatings. (c) 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.