Superhydrophobic Colloidally Textured Polythiophene Film as Superior Anticorrosion Coating

Abstract

In this paper, we demonstrated for the first time the use of electrodeposited superhydrophobic conducting polythiophene coating to effectively protect the underlying steel substrate from corrosion attack: by first preventing water from being absorbed onto the coating, thus preventing the corrosive chemicals and corrosion products from diffusing through the coating, and second by causing an anodic shift in the corrosion potential as it galvanically couples to the metal substrate. Standard electrochemical measurements revealed the steel coated with antiwetting nanostructured polythiophene film, which was immersed in chloride solution of different pH and temperature for up to 7 days, is very well protected from corrosion evidenced by protection efficiency of greater than 95%. Fabrication of the dual properties superhydrophobic anticorrosion nanostructured conducting polymer coating follows a two-step coating procedure that is very simple and can be used to coat any metallic surface.