Corrosion protection properties of polypyrrole electropolymerized onto steel in the presence of salicylate

The corrosion performance of a polypyrrole coating constituted by hollow rectangular microtubes was monitored in chloride solutions using open circuit potential measurements, potentiostatic polarization and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy. The coating was electrosynthesized onto 316 L stainless steel from a salicylate solution and it provided a very good corrosion resistance to the substrate. It was found that polypyrrole films with granular morphology electrodeposited from a salicylate solution with lower concentration behave better in terms of protective behavior. In order to improve the corrosion protection imparted by the polypyrrole coating formed by the microtubes a system of two layers was electrodeposited, the first one consisted of polypyrrole with a granular morphology and the second one, on the top, was constituted by the microtubes. This bilayered system exhibited an excellent protective behavior during considerably long immersion time.

► PPy coatings were electrosynthesized onto 316 L SS from a salicylate solution.
► A PPy coating with microtubes morphology provided a very good corrosion resistance.
► A coating with granular morphology behaved better in terms of protective behavior.
► A bilayered system of PPy with microtubes morphology as a top coat was synthesized.
► This system exhibited an excellent protective behavior during long immersion time.