The corrosion protection of mild steel by single layered polypyrrole and multilayered polypyrrole/poly(5-amino-1-naphthol) coatings

Electrochemical synthesis of polypyrrole (PPy) and top coat of poly(5-amino-1-naphthol) (PANAP) on PPy films from oxalic acid solution was achieved on mild steel (MS) by cyclic voltammetry technique. The morphology and the structure of the films were investigated by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The corrosion performance of this multilayer coating and single PPy coating were investigated in 3.5% NaCl solution by using open circuit potential (Eocp)–time curves, polarization curves and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS). It was found that the multilayer PPy/PANAP coating could provide much better protection than single PPy coating for corrosion of MS. It was observed that corrosion performance of coatings was increasing with immersion period. This was explained by auto-undoping properties of PPy coatings during immersion in corrosive solution. The improved corrosion performance in the presence of PANAP top coat on PPy was explained by increase in barrier effect of bilayer films.