Preparation and corrosion resistance studies of zirconia coating on fluorinated AZ91D magnesium alloy

Novel anti-corrosion zirconia coating was prepared via the sol–gel method for AZ91D magnesium alloy using zirconium nitrate hydrate as a precursor modified with acetylacetone (AcAc). Magnesium alloy substrates were first fluorinated in 20% HF aqueous solution at room temperature for 20 h, then, the zirconia coating was deposited on the fluorinated sample by dip coating. Basing on the sol–gel process, a chelate complex from the reaction of zirconium coordinating AcAc was formed which was supported by UV–vis spectrum analysis. The result showed that the absorption peak could be seen for the sol at 308 nm, which was red-shifted by 36 nm from that of methanol form of AcAc (272 nm). Moreover, Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectrum analysis was performed to examine the structural differences between the gel and AcAc. The results indicated that the chelate complex with a bidentante structure was formed through the interaction chemically between zirconium nitrate and AcAc. The surface morphology of the zirconia coating was characterized by scanning electron microscope (SEM), an uniform coating can be obtained on the fluorinated sample. The corrosion resistance of the substrate, the fluorinated with and without the zirconia coating in the 3.5 wt.% NaCl solution was studied using electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) and potentiodynamic polarization tests, respectively. The results demonstrated that the zirconia coating could greatly improve the corrosion resistance of the AZ91D magnesium alloy. Furthermore, the effect of the different heat-treatment temperatures for the zirconia coating on corrosion resistance was also discussed.