Electrochemical investigations of the anticorrosive and electrochromic properties of electroactive polyamide

This article details electrochemical investigations of the corrosion protection and electrochromic properties of electroactive polyamide (EPA) coatings. The electroactivity of EPA was evaluated by performing electrochemical cyclic voltammetry (CV) studies. The EPA coating was found to exhibit enhanced corrosion protection effects on cold-rolled steel (CRS) electrodes compared with a corresponding non-electroactive polyamide (NEPA) coating based on a series of electrochemical measurements in a 3.5 wt% NaCl electrolyte solution. The possible mechanism for the enhanced corrosion protection ability of the EPA coating on the CRS electrode could be the formation of passive metal oxide layers on the CRS electrode induced by the redox catalytic capabilities of the aniline pentamer units in EPA. The electrochromic performance of EPA, which was investigated by measuring electrochromic photographs and UV absorption spectra. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.