Robust fluorinated siloxane copolymers via initiated chemical vapor deposition for corrosion protection

Abstract

Homopolymers of 2,4,6,8-tetramethyl-2,4,6,8-tetravinylcyclotetrasiloxane (V4D4), 2-(perfluorohexyl)ethyl acrylate (PFHEA) and 2-(perfluoroalkyl)ethyl methacrylate (PFEMA) and their copolymers were synthesized via initiated chemical vapor deposition (iCVD). All coatings exhibited excellent adhesion to substrates. The corrosion resistance of iCVD coatings was investigated by electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) and potentiodynamic polarization measurements. In addition, chemical durability of various organic solvents and adhesion to the substrate were also evaluated. Tafel polarization measurements in 5 wt% NaCl solution revealed that the corrosion rates as low as 0.002 mpy on zinc substrates can be reached with 250-nm-thick iCVD-synthesized polymers which is lower than previously reported polymer coatings and more than three orders of magnitude lower than bare zinc. EIS analysis coupled with equivalent electric circuits model confirmed that poly(V4D4) and poly(PFHEA) homopolymers show extremely high protection efficiencies (similar to 99%) on zinc, while poly(V4D4-co-PFHEA) copolymer with slightly lower corrosion efficiency (85-91%) provides a better anticorrosion barrier with weight loss reduction by 57 and 45% for copper and zinc, respectively, and with improved chemical and mechanical properties. The results indicate that iCVD process enables fabrication of finely tuned fluorinated siloxane copolymer conformal coatings for corrosion protection on a variety of substrates.