Anticorrosion Protection of TiO2 Nanofilm on the Surface of Carbon Steel

Carbon steel (CS) is the preferred base material for construction in various industries due to its low cost; however, industrial equipment failure caused by carbon steel corrosion can lead to several environmental risks and safety hazards, thus limiting its application scenarios. Enhancing the corrosion resistance of carbon steel and reducing the maintenance cost of carbon steel substrate have become a hot topic of current research. Therefore, in this study, a zinc oxide/polyaniline-titanium dioxide composite film (ZnO/PAni-TiO₂) with long-lasting photogenerated cathodic protection was constructed based on the photoelectric conversion properties of TiO₂. This new TiO₂ composite film, which can avoid photogenerated electron-hole complexation, significantly enhanced the photoelectric conversion efficiency of TiO₂, thereby decreasing the anodic corrosion current density of low carbon steel and enhancing the cathodic protection of carbon steel. Hence, it is expected to provide a new direction for the preparation of corrosion-resistant TiO₂-laminated carbon steel nanofilms.