Electrodeposited Zn-soybean nanocrystal composite coatings: an effective strategy to produce cheaper and corrosion resistant Zn composite coatings

Abstract

Zn-soybean nanocrystal composite coating was produced through electrodeposition. The coatings were obtained in the absence and presence of different concentrations of soybean nanocrystals obtained through the bleaching process with a sodium hypochlorite (NaClO) solution and hydrolysis in a sulfuric acid solution. The effect of nanocrystal addition on the coating characteristics was analyzed through scanning electron microscopy (SEM), roughness measurements, hardness measurements, corrosion resistance evaluation and current efficiency determination. Corrosion resistance was evaluated at 0.5 wt% NaCl solution through mass loss and electrochemical measurements. The results obtained indicate that the presence of soybean nanocrystal reduces the hardness, but increases the corrosion resistance of the Zn coating and this effect is related to the decrease in the roughness of the coating.

Keywords

• Electrodeposition
• Zn coating
• Soybean nanocrystals
• Corrosion
• Roughness