Growth of hydrophobic membrane on copper surface and study of its corrosive behavior

Physical Metallurgy Lab, School of Mechanical Engineering, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, GR541 24 Thessaloniki, Greece

^* Corresponding author: fstergio@auth.gr

Abstract

Hydrophobic films were produced on a copper surface by chemical methods. The whole process consisted of three stages. Initially the hierarchical structure of the surface was achieved by in situ reduction of Ag⁺ ions to Ag using silver nitrate solution, thereby creating a nanostructured surface. The copper surface was then coated with polydopamine by a simple immersion procedure. Finally, it was decorated with thiols, to achieve a hydrophobic surface. The wetting angle was used to evaluate the hydrophobicity of the produced surfaces. The anti-corrosion behavior of the produced hydrophobic films, were evaluated on the specimens that showed higher hydrophobicity by electrochemical methods. Electrochemical techniques (potentiodynamic polarization and resistance spectroscopy tests) were performed in 3.5% NaCl solution. Morphology was investigated by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). All experimental results showed a clear improvement in the corrosion behavior of the hydrophobic copper surfaces while the hydrophobicity was maintained after the corrosion tests.