Carragher, Ursula (2013) An Electrochemical Investigation into the Corrosion Protection Properties of Coatings for the Active Metal Copper. PhD thesis, National University of Ireland Maynooth.
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Abstract
In the research presented in this thesis, corrosion protection films were synthesised and
characterised. The films were based on polypyrrole (PPy) coatings doped with combinations
of tartrate, oxalate and dodecylbenzene sulfonate (DBS) along with the incorporation of multiwalled
carbon nanotubes (MWCNT), and viologen films adsorbed at copper. The corrosion
protective properties of these films were studied and compared to the uncoated copper substrate.
They were assessed and studied using a combination of cyclic voltammetry, polarisation
curves, Tafel analysis, open-circuit potential measurements and electrochemical impedance
spectroscopy.
Polypyrrole films were successfully deposited at copper from a 0.10 mol dm-3 oxalate
solution at a pH of 8.0 and a 0.10 mol dm-3 tartrate solution at a pH of 7.0 to generate PPy-
Tartrate and PPy-Oxalate films on copper. SEM micrographs confirmed that the polymers
were homogeneous, defect and crack-free. In addition, bi-layers comprising PPy-Tartrate/PPy-
Oxalate and PPy-Oxalate/PPy-Tartrate were successfully formed at the copper interface. The
bi-layer provided the better corrosion protective coatings. Higher breakdown potentials were
observed with the bi-layer. In an attempt to further improve the corrosion protective properties
of the bi-layer coatings, MWCNT, were incorporated into the polymer films. The MWCNT
were successfully dispersed using DBS. The concentration ratio of the MWCNT to DBS was
important in forming a stable and well dispersed solution. This was achieved using 0.05 mol
dm-3 DBS and 0.02 mg MWCNT. The MWCNT-modified polypyrrole films were deposited
as bi-layers and multi-layers and showed excellent corrosion protection for copper. The PPy-
Tartrate/PPy-DBS bi-layer films also showed potential as a corrosion protective coating.
An alternative approach was then considered. The electrochemical deposition of three
viologens, methyl viologen (MV), benzyl viologen (BV) and ethyl viologen (EV) at copper in
the presence of a 0.10 mol dm-3 NaCl supporting electrolyte was studied. The formation of the
viologen films was achieved by cycling the copper electrode from -0.20 to 1.00 V vs. SCE at a
scan rate of 1 mV s-1. For comparison, the copper was cycled under the same conditions in the
0.10 mol dm-3 NaCl solution, but in the absence of the viologens. Significant dissolution of the
copper was observed in the absence of the viologens. However, considerably lower currents
were measured in the presence of the viologens, indicating a reduction in the rate of dissolution
and the formation of a protective film.
Item Type: | Thesis (PhD) |
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Keywords: | Electrochemical Investigation; Corrosion Protection Properties; Active Metal Copper; |
Academic Unit: | Faculty of Science and Engineering > Chemistry |
Item ID: | 4326 |
Depositing User: | IR eTheses |
Date Deposited: | 19 Apr 2013 11:39 |
URI: | https://mu.eprints-hosting.org/id/eprint/4326 |
Use Licence: | This item is available under a Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial Share Alike Licence (CC BY-NC-SA). Details of this licence are available here |
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