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Plasma polymerization – a new and promising way for the corrosion protection of steel
Author(s) -
Grundmeier G.,
Stratmann M.
Publication year - 1998
Publication title -
materials and corrosion
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.487
H-Index - 55
eISSN - 1521-4176
pISSN - 0947-5117
DOI - 10.1002/(sici)1521-4176(199803)49:3<150::aid-maco150>3.0.co;2-x
Subject(s) - x ray photoelectron spectroscopy , materials science , polymer , quartz crystal microbalance , analytical chemistry (journal) , chemical engineering , delamination (geology) , oxide , chemistry , composite material , metallurgy , organic chemistry , adsorption , engineering , paleontology , subduction , biology , tectonics
In this paper the glow discharge process is used for the deposition of ultrathin (d>10 nm) plasma polymers on iron specimens. The plasma polymer serves as an interfacial polymeric layer between the passive iron surface and a conventional pigment free water based 1‐component primer. Samples were fixed in the grounded electrode of an audio frequency discharge (4 kHz). Cleaning of the iron surface was achieved by an oxygen plasma treatment and plasma polymers were deposited from a mixture of hexamethyldisilane ((CH 3 ) 3 Si‐Si(CH 3 ) 3 ) and argon. The modification of the surface structure was investigated by the use of quartz crystal microweighing (QCM) and infrared spectroscopy under grazing incidence (IRRAS) as in‐situ methods. Both the iron oxide as well as the plasma polymer are characterized in detail by infrared spectroscopy and photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The corrosion performance of primer coated samples was tested according to the kinetics of cathodic delamination which was measured in‐situ by the Scanning Kelvinprobe (SKP). While the pure oxygen plasma treatment, leading to a contamination free and thickened oxide layer, does not influence the delamination kinetics the existence of an only 5 nm thick plasma polymer at the metal‐primer interface leads to a significantly decreased rate of undermining.