Laser-Controllable Coatings for Corrosion Protection

TLDR

The study presents a novel laser‑controllable coating for corrosion protection. The coating is fabricated by layer‑by‑layer assembly of a polyelectrolyte shell with noble metal particles over mesoporous titania and silica, incorporated into a zirconia‑organosilica matrix to create micro‑ and nanoscale reservoirs that enable laser‑driven release of corrosion inhibitors, and the resulting films are highly adhesive and can be deposited on various metallic substrates. The technique allows laser‑triggered release of corrosion inhibitors, enabling intensive healing of corrosion centers and real‑time observation of inhibitor release at single and multicontainer levels.

Abstract

We introduce a novel and versatile approach to the corrosion protection by use of "smart" laser-controllable coating. The main advantage of the proposed technique is that one could terminate the corrosion process by very intensive healing after an appearance of corrosion centers using local laser irradiation. It is also shown that by applying a polyelectrolyte shell with noble metal particles over the mesoporous titania and silica via layer-by-layer assembly it is possible to fabricate micro- and nanoscaled reservoirs, which, being incorporated into the zirconia-organosilica matrix, are responsible for the ability of laser-driven release of the loaded materials (e.g., corrosion inhibitor). Furthermore, the resultant films are highly adhesive and could be easily deposited onto different metallic substrates. Laser-mediated remote release of incorporated corrosion inhibitor (benzotriazole) from engineered mesoporous containers with silver nanoparticles in the container shell is observed in real time on single and multicontainer levels.