Corrosion protection of mild steel by applying TiO2 nanoparticle coating via sol-gel method

TiO2 nanoparticle coatings possess good thermal and electrical properties and they are resistant to oxidation, corrosion, erosion and wear in high temperature environments. This property is very important factor in the applications such as pipelines, castings and automotive industry. In this investigation a uniform TiO2 nanoparticle coating has been applied on mild steel, using sol-gel method. The coating was deposited on mild steel substrate by dip coating technique. The morphology and structure of the coating were analyzed using SEM, AFM and X-ray diffraction. The anticorrosion performances of the coating have been evaluated by using electrochemical techniques. It is worthy to note that the film uniformity was retained in high temperatures and no crack and flaking off from the substrate was observed. The Tafel polarization measurements provide an explanation to the increased resistance of TiO2 nanoparticle coated mild steel against corrosion and icorr was decreased from 18.621 to 0.174 μA/cm2.