Anticorrosive painting system constructed on a porous silica pretreatment layer prepared with the aid of alkaline catalysis

Abstract In this work, a porous silica film pretreatment layer with a thickness up to 8 μm was prepared on the surface of mild steels with the aid of alkaline catalysis. This was achieved by pre-depositing an alkaline film on the substrate before deposition of silica layer. Polymeric resin was then painted on silica film pretreatment layer for long-term protection. Active protection performance was further achieved by loading corrosion inhibitors in the pretreatment layer. Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy and scanning vibrating electrode technique both demonstrate the excellent corrosion performance of the painting system constructed on such a pretreatment layer.