Corrosion protection of mild steel by one-step electrodeposition of superhydrophobic silica film

Abstract Superhydrophobic silica films were deposited onto mild steel substrate for the purpose of corrosion protection. The superhydrophobicity was obtained by one-step electrodeposition of inorganic/organic hybrid sol–gel films from tetraethoxysilane and dodecyltriethoxysilane mixed sol–gel precursors, as a result of simultaneous generation of high roughness and low-energy surface. The corrosion performance was investigated by monitoring the change of water contact angle, by the electrochemical impedance spectroscopy measurements and by iron dissolution test over the whole immersion time. The results show that the superhydrophobic film provides an effective barrier coating for the mild steel interface.