Synthetic Metals 114 Ž2000.

225–234
www.elsevier.comrlocatersynmet

Electrodeposition mechanism, adhesion and corrosion performance of

polypyrrole and poly žN-methylpyrrole/ coatings on steel substrates
Wencheng Su, Jude O. Iroh )
Department of Materials Science and Engineering UniÕersity of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH 45211-0012, USA
Received 11 November 1999; accepted 11 November 1999

Abstract

Polypyrrole and polyŽ N-methylpyrrole. coatings have been successfully electrodeposited on steel substrates from aqueous oxalate
solutions. In acidic solutions, the electrodeposition process was characterized by three distinct stages. In this work the electrodeposition
process was first investigated by scanning electron microscopy ŽSEM., X-ray diffraction ŽXRD. and FTIR techniques. The adhesion and
corrosion performance of the electrodeposited coatings were then evaluated by single lap shear tests and tafel tests, respectively. Our
results reveal that deposition of FeC 2 O4 P 2H 2 O crystal layer first established the passivation of steel at the end of the first two stages, but
the formed FeC 2 O4 P 2H 2 O passive layer is subsequently decomposed followed by electropolymerization of pyrrole. Our results also
show that electrochemical process parameters had significant effects on the adhesion and corrosion performance of the electroposited
polypyrrole and polyŽ N-methylpyrrole. coatings. Polypyrrole coatings exhibited better adhesion and corrosion performance than
polyŽ N-methylpyrrole. coatings. q 2000 Published by Elsevier Science S.A.

Keywords: Polypyrrole; PolyŽ N-methylpyrrole.; Electrodeposition mechanism; Adhesion; Corrosion

1. Introduction polymer and deposition of the coating in one process. The

Steel is the most interesting commodity metal from a
technological point of view; however, it must be protected
against corrosion under normal environmental conditions.
Application of polymer coatings on steel substrates is
perhaps the most widely used method in industries w1x;
however, current coating techniques often involve the use
of toxic chemicals such as chromates and volatile organic
solvents w2x. Due to environmental concerns, industries are
now looking for new effective and nontoxic coating tech-
niques that can meet current and future environmental
restrictions.
Aqueous electrochemical polymerization Želectropoly-
merization. may be an alternative which can eliminate the
use of toxic chemicals. Advantages of aqueous elec-
tropolymerization include: Ži. The aqueous solutions used
are environmentally favourable. The use of aqueous solu-
tions also greatly lowers the costs for materials and waste
disposal. Žii. This technique combines the formation of the
)
Corresponding author. Tel.: q1-513-556-3096; fax: q1-513-556-
2569.
E-mail address: jiroh@uceng.uc.edu ŽJ.O. Iroh..
process is energy-effective and can be easily automated.
Žiii.. Mild reaction conditions such as room temperature,
low current or potential are used. The production cost is
relatively low. Živ. The properties of the coatings can be
controlled by varying the reaction parameters such as
current density, monomer type, monomer concentration,
electrolyte type, electrolyte concentration, pH of the reac-
tion medium and the reaction time.
Recently the electropolymerization of pyrrole on iron
electrodes has been investigated with the aim of producing
uniform and strongly adherent coatings w3–14x. It was
found that only a few reaction systems could lead to the
formation of polypyrrole coatings on iron substrates w5–14x.
In our previous work, we have systematically investigated
the effect of electrochemical process parameters on the
formation of polypyrrole and polyŽ N-methylpyrrole. coat-
ings on steel substrates from aqueous oxalate solution
w8–11x. We also successfully characterized the composition
and structure of the electrodeposited coatings w12–14x. In
this paper, we further investigated the electrodeposition
mechanism, adhesion and corrosion performance of the
polypyrrole and polyŽ N-methylpyrrole. coatings on steel
substrates.

0379-6779r00r$ - see front matter q 2000 Published by Elsevier Science S.A.

PII: S 0 3 7 9 - 6 7 7 9 Ž 9 9 . 0 0 3 0 6 - 9
226 W. Su, J.O. Iroh r Synthetic Metals 114 (2000) 225–234

2. Experimental
2.1. Electrochemical synthesis
Electrochemical reactions were performed in a one-
compartment polypropylene cell. The working electrode
was a 0.5-mm-thick QD low-carbon steel panel provided
by Q-panel. The counter electrodes comprised of two
titanium alloy plates. A saturated calomel electrode ŽSCE.
was used as reference electrode. The working electrode
and the counter electrodes were used as anode and cath-
ode, respectively. Constant current method was the tech-
nique used. The constant current source was supplied by
an EG & G Princeton Applied Research potentiostatr
galvanostat Model 273A.
The monomers used in this work were pyrrole and
N-methylpyrrole. The initial concentrations of pyrrole and
N-methylpyrrole were kept constant at 0.25 and 0.05 M,
respectively. The electrolyte used was a mixture of oxalic
acid and certain amount of weak base Žpyrrole:
NaHCO 3 : N-methylpyrole:NŽC 2 H 5 . 3 .. The amount of weak
base was adjusted so as to change the pH of the solutions
from 1 to 10. Unless specified, the concentration of the
electrolyte was 0.1 M. All aqueous solutions used in the
experiments were made from deionized water.
2.2. Characterization
The morphology of the samples was examined by scan-
ning electron microscopy ŽSEM. using a Hitachi S-4000
scanning electron microscope. Reflection–absorption in-
frared spectra ŽRAIR. of the samples were measured by a
BIO-RAD FTS-40 FTIR spectrometer. X-ray diffraction
ŽXRD. patterns of the electrodeposted coatings were stud-
ied by a Philips X’pert diffractometer with Cu K a radia-
tion. For RAIR and X-ray measurements, the samples used
were prepared by polished steel sheets.
The tafel test was conducted with a CMS 100 corrosion
measurement system, purchased from Gamry Instruments
ŽWillow Grove, PA.. A flat cell was used for the measure-
ments. The system consisted of a working electrode, a
platinum counter electrode and an SCE reference elec-
trode. The flat cell was filled with 1 M NaCl solution and
was aerated with air during the test. A test spot with
diameter of 1 cm was immersed into the solution during
the test.
3. Results and discussion
3.1. Electrodeposition mechanism
Fig. 1 shows the potential–time curves for the forma-
tion of polypyrrole coatings in different pH solutions at the
applied current density of 0.56 mArcm2 . In acidic solu-
tions, the formation process of polypyrrole was character-
ized by three distinct stages. The first two stages were
related to the dissolution and passivation of steel. Our
previous results revealed that the dissolution and passiva-
tion of the steel was due to the deposition of a layer of
FeC 2 O4 P 2H 2 O crystals on the steel substrate and pH of
the reaction solutions and applied current densities had
significant effect on the passivation time of the steel
w8,10,12,14x. As an example, Fig. 2 shows the formation
process of the ironŽII. oxalate passive coating at pH s 1.4
and i s 0.56 mArcm2 .
In this work, we further investigated the third stage of
the reactions. It can be seen from Fig. 1 that the reaction
potentials were not stable during the initial part of the
second stage for the acid solutions. In order to understand
the reaction mechanism, a series of samples were prepared

2.3. Adhesion and corrosion tests

A measure of the adhesion of the electrodeposited

coatings to the steel substrates was determined by lap
shear tests according to an ASTM standard procedure
D-1002-72. The standard test coupons from Q-Panel had
dimensions of 2.54 = 10.2 cm. Pairs of coated coupons
were bonded together to form lap joints with an overlap
length of 1.27 cm. The adhesives consisted of an epoxy
ŽEPON 828, Shell Chemical. and a polyamide curing agent
ŽEPI-CURE 3140, Shell Chemical. which were mixed in a
1:0.75 ratio of epoxy to curing agent. The adhesive was
cured at room temperature for 18 h and then in an oven at
508C for 5 h. The tests were performed in a 4206 Instron
mechanical testing machine with a cross-head speed of
1.27 mmrmin. The reported adhesion strength is the aver- Fig. 1. Potential–time curves for the formation of polypyrrole coatings in
age of at least three measurements. different pH solutions at the applied current density of 0.56 mArcm2 .
 W. Su, J.O. Iroh r Synthetic Metals 114 (2000) 225–234 227

Fig. 2. SEM micrographs of the samples formed at different time during the first stage, pH s 1.4, i s 0.56 mArcm2 .

at different times after the first two stages at pH s 1.4 and The obtained samples were first investigated by SEM.
i s 0.56 mArcm2 . For this part of investigation, the begin- Fig. 3 shows the SEM micrographs of the samples formed
ning of the third stage was regarded as zero reaction time. at different times after the first two stages. The formed

Fig. 3. SEM micrographs of the samples formed at different times during the second stage, pH s 1.4, i s 0.56 mArcm2 .
228 W. Su, J.O. Iroh r Synthetic Metals 114 (2000) 225–234
ironŽII. oxalate crystals still could be observed after 2.5
min reaction, but the size of the crystals became smaller
and the surface of the existing crystals became much
rougher. It seems that some small crystals had already
disappeared. After 3.5 min reaction, no big crystals could
be discerned on the steel substrate. It seems that most
crystals had gone after 3.5 min reaction. After 5 min
reaction, the morphology and color of the surface changed
dramatically. It can be seen that the steel substrate was
covered by black polypyrrole coating with fine micro-
spheroidal grains. After 10 min reaction, the morphology
of polypyrrole coating can be seen more clearly and the
microspheroidal grains grew much larger.
The obtained samples were then investigated by XRD
technique. The results are shown in Fig. 4. For the sample
formed after 2.5 min reaction, the diffraction peaks related
to the ironŽII. oxalate were observed, but the peak intensi-
ties were decreased compared to those of the passive
coating formed at the end of the first stage. When the
reaction time was longer than 3.5 min, all samples ob-
tained did not show any diffraction peaks related to the
ironŽII. oxalate coatings. Because polypyrrole has a highly
disordered structure w15x, it does not show any diffraction
peaks. For all the samples, three strong diffraction peaks
related to the steel substrate were observed when the XRD
was measured in the 2 u range of 408 to 908, indicating that
the disappearance of the diffraction peaks of FeC 2 O4 P
2H 2 O was not due to the penetration depth of X-ray.
Because the penetration depth of X-ray is usually a few
microns w16x and the thickness of the formed polypyrrole
coatings was below 1.0 mm, X-ray could penetrate the
Fig. 4. XRD curves of the samples formed at different times after the first
stage, pH s1.4, is 0.56 mArcm2 .
polypyrrole layer and detect the steel substrate. Therefore,
above XRD results imply that ironŽII. oxalate coatings no
longer existed on the steel surface after 3.5 min reaction.
Fig. 5 shows the RAIR spectra of the samples formed at
different times after the first stage. The RAIR spectra of
FeC 2 O4 P 2H 2 O and polypyrrole coatings have been dis-
cussed in our previous paper w12x. It can be seen that the
sample formed after 2.5 min reaction showed strong peaks
related to the ironŽII. oxalate coatings. No strong IR peaks
were observed for the sample formed after 3.5 min reac-
tion. Because the substrate surface was not polished to
mirror finish, very thin polypyrrole coating could not be
detected. However, for the sample formed after 10 min
reaction, the strong IR peaks were observed and all the
peaks could be attributed to polypyrrole coatings.
Samples prepared at other conditions also showed simi-
lar phenomena. From the above discussion, it can be
concluded that the ironŽII. oxalate formed during the first
stage actually decomposed again during the initial part of
the second stage. Like any other ferrous compounds,
ironŽII. oxalate is also metastable. When the reaction
potential was raised to a higher value, the precipitated
ironŽII. oxalate would be further oxidized into highly
soluble ironŽIII. oxalate. Meanwhile, polypyrrole was de-
posited on the steel surface where ironŽII. oxalate was
decomposed so that the entire steel surface was still in
passive state. Finally, polypyrrole would cover the entire
steel surface when ironŽII. oxalate was decomposed com-
pletely. Further electropolymerization of pyrrole would
occur on the polypyrrole surface rather than on ironŽII.
oxalate surface.
3.2. Adhesion performance
For adhesion measurements, all polypyrrole coatings
had a thickness of about 2.0 mm while the polyŽ N-methyl-
pyrrole. coatings had thickness between 1.0 to 1.5 mm.
Fig. 6 compares the adhesion strength of ironŽII. oxalate
and polypyrrole coatings formed in different conditions.
The polypyrrole coatings formed at pH s 2.4 had much
higher adhesion strength than the corresponding ironŽII.
oxalate coatings while the polypyrrole coating formed at
pH s 6.0 had lower adhesion strength than the correspond-
ing ironŽII. oxalate coating. For example, the ironŽII.
oxalate coating formed at pH s 2.4 and i s 1.13 mArcm2
had adhesion strength about 9.4 MPa, which was about
10.8 MPa lower than that of the polypyrrole coating
formed in the same conditions. For all the oxalate coatings,
failure always occurred at the coating–steel interface. XRD
measurements showed that ironŽII. oxalate only existed on
the failure surface of the adhesive side. Here it is very
interesting to note that the results of lap shear tests also
support the reaction mechanism proposed above. The high
adhesion strength of polypyrrole coatings would not occur
if ironŽII. oxalate coatings still remained on the steel
substrates.
 W. Su, J.O. Iroh r Synthetic Metals 114 (2000) 225–234
Fig. 5. RAIR spectra of the samples formed at different times after the first stage, pH s 1.4, i s 0.56 mArcm2 .
Fig. 7 shows the adhesion strength of polypyrrole coat-
ings formed in different conditions. For each pH solution,
the adhesion strength of polypyrrole coatings decreased
slightly with increasing current densities. For the polypyr-
role coatings formed at pH s 4.1, the adhesion strength
became very close for the two applied current densities. It
can be seen from Fig. 7 that pH of the solutions had
significant effect on the adhesion strength of polypyrrole
coatings. When the pH of the solutions was below 4.1, all
the polypyrrole coatings exhibited higher adhesion strength
than the control sample, but the adhesion strength de-
creased slightly with pH for each applied current density.
For example, the polypyrrole coating formed at pH 2.4 and
1.13 mArcm2 had adhesion strength about 20.2 MPa,
which was about 5.5 MPa higher than that of the epoxy
adhesive. The polypyrrole coatings formed at pH above
6.0 demonstrated much lower adhesion strength compared
to the control sample and the polypyrrole coatings formed
229
in lower pH solutions. In fact, the polypyrrole coatings
obtained at pH above 6.0 were actually very rough,
nonuniform, and very brittle. For example, the polypyrrole
coatings formed at pH s 6.0 and i s 3.38 mArcm2 had
adhesion strength of only about 2.4 MPa. Because the
epoxy used was almost transparent and the steel substrates
and the polypyrrole coatings showed white and black
color, respectively, the failure mode could be seen visu-
ally. For the control sample, failure occurred at the adhe-
sive–steel interface. All the epoxy adhesive was attached
to only one side of the failure surface. The failure mode of
the polypyrrole coatings was changed with pH of the
solutions. For all the polypyrrole coatings formed at pH
below 4.1, failure occurred cohesively within polypyrrole.
It could be seen very clearly that both sides of the failure
surfaces were covered by black polypyrrole. For the
polypyrrole coatings formed at pH above 6.0, failure events
were observed at the polypyrrole–steel interface. It was
230 W. Su, J.O. Iroh r Synthetic Metals 114 (2000) 225–234
Fig. 6. Comparison of the adhesion strength of ironŽII. oxalate and
polypyrrole coatings formed in different conditions.
found that black polypyrrole coatings were all attached to
the adhesive side, the other failure surface showed white
color.
Compared to polypyrrole coatings, polyŽ N-methylpyr-
role. coatings showed a different behaviour in adhesion
performance. When the applied current densities were
above 2.25 mArcm2 , the formed polyŽ N-methylpyrrole.
coatings were usually in the form of free-standing films,
but well-adhering polyŽ N-methylpyrrole. coatings could be
obtained at lower applied current densities. The adhesion
performance of the polyŽ N-methylpyrrole. coatings was
also influenced by pH of the solutions at lower applied
Fig. 7. Adhesion strength of steel coated with polypyrrole as a function of
pH and applied current.
Fig. 8. Adhesion strength of steel coated with polyŽ N-methylpyrrole. as a
function of pH.
current densities. When the pH of the solutions was above
3.9, the obtained polyŽ N-methylpyrrole. coatings were all
nonuniform. Fig. 8 shows the adhesion strength of
polyŽ N-methylpyrrole. coatings formed in different pH
solutions at the applied current density of 1.13 mArcm2 .
In contrast to polypyrrole coatings, all polyŽ N-methylpyr-
role. coatings exhibited lower adhesion strength than the
control sample. For example, the polyŽ N-methylpyrrole.
coating formed at pH s 1.4 and i s 1.13 mArcm2 had
adhesion strength about 14.2 MPa, which was about 8.8
MPa lower than the corresponding value of polypyrrole.
For the same applied current density, the adhesion strength
of polyŽ N-methylpyrrole. coatings also decreased with
Fig. 9. Adhesion strength of steel coated with polyŽ N-methylpyrrole. as a
function of oxalic acid concentration.
 W. Su, J.O. Iroh r Synthetic Metals 114 (2000) 225–234
increasing pH. Fig. 9 also compares the adhesion strength
of the polyŽ N-methylpyrrole. coatings formed at different
electrolyte concentration. It can be seen that the adhesion
strength of polyŽ N-methylpyrrole. coatings decreased
slightly with increasing electrolyte concentration. For all
the polyŽ N-methylpyrrole. coatings, failure events oc-
curred between coating–steel interface. It was found that
black polyŽ N-methylpyrrole. coatings were all attached to
the adhesive side.
In order to further understand the adhesion mechanism,
a series of pyrrole and N-methylpyrrole copolymers were
also prepared by electrochemical method. It has been
reported that the composition of the pyrrole and N-methyl-
pyrrole copolymers is similar to their feed ratio w17x, thus
monomer feed ratio can be used to represent the composi-
tion of the copolymers. Fig. 10 shows the relationship
between the adhesion strength and the composition of the
copolymers. It can be seen that the adhesion strength of the
copolymers increased with increasing pyrrole content. The
failure mode of the lap joints was also influenced by the
composition of the copolymers. It changed gradually from
interfacial failure to cohesive failure with increasing pyr-
role content. For the copolymer containing 80 mol% of
pyrrole, the failure mode was very similar to that of the
pure polypyrrole.
From the above discussion, it seems that –NH groups
of the polypyrrole chains play an important role for the
higher adhesion strength of polypyrrole coatings. Perhaps
–NH groups could form some kind of chemical bonding
with the steel substrate. The influence of pH and applied
current densities on the adhesion of polypyrrole and
polyŽ N-methylpyrrole. coatings is not very clear so far.
Because of the insolubility of polypyrrole and polyŽ N-
Fig. 10. Dependence of the adhesion strength of steel coated with
polypyrrole-co-polyŽ N-methylpyrrole. as a function of mole % of pyrrole
in the feed.
231
methylpyrrole. in all solvents, it is very hard to character-
ize their molecular weight and their structure. However,
because the electropolymerization reactions occurred
through the radical cation intermediates w18,19x, it is quite
possible that higher pH and applied current densities could
lead to shorter chain length and lower mechanical proper-
ties.
3.3. Corrosion performance
Tafel test is a DC corrosion test to determine the
corrosion current Icorr and corrosion potential Ecorr of
metals. From tafel measurements, the corrosion rate can be
calculated according to following equation w20x:
CR Ž mmryearr. s 3272 Icorr Ž EW . r Ž Ad . Ž 1.
where CR is the corrosion rate in millimeters per year, Icorr
is the corrosion current in amperes per square centimeter,
EW is the equivalent weight of the oxidized element in
gramsrequivalent, A is the surface area of the specimen in
square centimeters, and d is the density of the specimen in
grams per cubic sentimeter.
All the samples used for tafel tests were prepared at the
applied current density of 1.13 mArcm2 . All polypyrrole
coatings had a thickness of about 2.0 mm while the
polyŽ N-methylpyrrole. coatings formed at pH s 1.4 and
2.7 had thickness of about 1.5 and 1.0 mm, respectively.
As an example, Fig. 11 shows the obtained Tafel curves
for the bare steel, polypyrrole and polyŽ N-methylpyrrole.
coatings. The polypyrrole and polyŽ N-methylpyrrole. coat-
ings were all prepared at pH s 1.4 and i s 1.13 mArcm2 .
Table 1 lists the obtained tafel results for all the samples. It
can be seen that electrodeposited ironŽII. oxalate coatings
had a lower corrosion potentials and higher corrosion
currents and corrosion rates than the bare steel, indicating
that they were not corrosion inhibitor for steel. However, it
can be seen from Table 1 that polypyrrole coatings greatly
raised the corrosion potential Ecorr and reduced the corro-
sion current Icorr . The corrosion rate of steel was also
significantly reduced as result of the reduction of Icorr .
These results indicate that polypyrrole coatings could act
as a protection layer on steel substrate and improve the
overall corrosion performance. The corrosion performance
of polypyrrole coatings was also influenced by pH of the
solutions. For all the polypyrrole coatings, the polypyrrole
coating formed at pH s 2.4 showed the best corrosion
performance. Compared to polypyrrole, polyŽ N-methylpyr-
role. coatings only slightly improved the corrosion poten-
tial Ecorr . Although polyŽ N-methylpyrrole. coatings also
reduced the corrosion current and corrosion rate of steel,
some defects were found on the coatings after the mea-
sured coatings were erased with soft paper. PolyŽ N-meth-
ylpyrrole. coatings had relatively low adhesion strength to
the steel substrates. Due to the irregularity of its structure,
polyŽ N-methylpyrrole. might have high permeability for
232 W. Su, J.O. Iroh r Synthetic Metals 114 (2000) 225–234

Fig. 11. DC polarization curves for uncoated low carbon steel, polypyrrole coated low carbon steel and polyŽ N-methylpyrrole. coated steel.
 W. Su, J.O. Iroh r Synthetic Metals 114 (2000) 225–234 233

Table 1 coatings could function as a physical barrier, which could

Tafel results of the ironŽII. oxalate, polypyrrole and polyŽ N-methylpyr- reduce the diffusion rate of ions and water. On the other
role. coatings Ž is1.13 mArcm2 .
hand, good adhesion between polypyrrole and steel sub-
Sample Ecorr ŽmV. Icorr ŽArcm2 . Corrosion
strate could hinder the corrosion reactions at the interface.
rate
Žmmryear. Due to the existence of unsaturated bonds, –NH polar
groups, some ions in the polypyrrole coatings, polypyrrole
Bare steel y600.6 9.05Ey05 1.05
FeC 2 O4P2H 2 O, y698.8 1.44Ey04 1.67 may also act as anodic inhibitor. As a result, the inhibition
pH s1.4 effects could enhance the corrosion resistance of the low
FeC 2 O4P2H 2 O, y692.6 1.20Ey04 1.40 carbon steel. Fig. 12 displays schematically the anodic
pH s 2.4 inhibiting function of the polypyrrole coatings. It can be
PPy, pH s1.4 y101.9 5.45Ey06 0.063
seen from the figure that the inhibitors increase the corro-
PPy, pH s 2.4 y15.7 3.60Ey07 0.0041
PPy, pH s 4.1 y188.5 3.07Ey06 0.036 sion potential and decrease the corrosion current of the low
MPPy, pH s1.4 y429.5 4.31Ey06 0.050 carbon steel.
MPPy, pH s 2.7 y580.1 6.37Ey06 0.074

water, resulting in the loss of adhesion at some part of the
coatings.
From above discussion, it can be seen that polypyrrole
also shows better corrosion performance than polyŽ N-
methylpyrrole.. Polypyrrole is a conjugated system, having
alternative single and double bonds, furthermore, it also
carries polar –NH and oxalate groups. The polypyrrole
4. Conclusions
The results presented in this study revealed a very
interesting mechanism for the electrodeposition of polypyr-
role coatings on steel substrates from aqueous oxalate
solutions, that is, FeC 2 O4 P 2H 2 O coating was first de-
posited on the steel substrate and passivated the steel

Fig. 12. Schematic representation of the anodic inhibiting function of polypyrrole coatings formed on steel: anode 1; uncoated steel, anode 2; steel coated
with PPy, Ecorr1 and Ecorr2 , corrosion potentials for uncoated steel and PPy coated steel, respectively, Icorr1 and Icorr2 , corrosion currents for uncoated steel
and steel coated with PPy.
234 W. Su, J.O. Iroh r Synthetic Metals 114 (2000) 225–234
surface, but the formed FeC 2 O4 P 2H 2 O coating decom-
posed again when the electropolymerization potential of
pyrrole was reached. Polypyrrole was deposited directly on
steel surface instead of on FeC 2 O4 P 2H 2 O surface. Our
results show that the adhesion strength of polypyrrole and
polyŽ N-methylpyrrole. coatings to the steel substrates was
influenced by pH and applied current densities. The
polypyrrole coatings formed in lower pH solution had
higher adhesion strength than the control sample while all
polyŽ N-methylpyrrole. coatings formed had lower adhe-
sion strength than the control sample. Our preliminary
results also show that polypyrrole coatings significantly
raised the corrosion potential and reduce the corrosion
current and corrosion rate of steel. The corrosion perfor-
mance of polyŽ N-methylpyrrole. coatings is inferior com-
pared to polypyrrole. Electrodeposited polypyrrole appears
to be a good candidate to be used as corrosion inhibiting
coatings.
Acknowledgements
Financial support of this research from the Office of
Naval Research is gratefully acknowledged. We would like
to thank Dr. Vim J. van Ooij for providing the instruments
for tafel measurements.
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