EVALUATION OF ANTICORROSIVE PIGMENTS BY PIGMENT EXTRACT STUDIES, ATMOSPHERIC EXPOSURE AND ELECTROCHEMICAL IMPEDANCE SPECTROSCOPY

The inhibition efficiencies of zinc chromate, barium metaborate, calcium silicate, amino carboxylate, calcium barium phosphosilicate, aluminum triphosphate and a modified zinc phosphate on the corrosion of steel and zinc were determined by polarization experiments on pigment extracts. Zinc phosphate and zinc chromate were the best and were studied further to determine the effect of pH and chloride concentration on their inhibition of steel. Zinc chromate is adversely affected by high concentration of chloride ions, which effect seems to be less pronounced on zinc. A low pH, although increasing the solubility of zinc phosphate, does not increase its efficiency. The pigments were also incorporated into an epoxy-poly(amide) binder, applied to cold-rolled steel and galvanized steel, exposed at a marine exposure station and the degradation monitored by electrochemical impedance spectroscopy. There was a general correlation between the results of pigment extract studies and atmospheric exposure except in the case of phosphate pigments on cold rolled steel.