Corrosion protection of aluminium pretreated by vinyltriethoxysilane in sodium chloride solution

The corrosion protection of vinyltriethoxysilane (VTES) films on aluminium during exposure to 3% NaCl was investigated using electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS), potential-time measurements and optical microscopy coupled with image analysis. Composition and thickness of films were analyzed using Auger electron spectroscopy (AES) combined with depth profiling. It was shown that films deposited from 5% solution were significantly thicker and exhibited lower porosity and better corrosion stability, as compared to films deposited from 2 vol.% solution. VTES films deposited from 5 vol.% solutions and cured for 30 min exhibited better protection properties than other investigated films. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.