Effect of ecofriendly sealing coat against corrosion protection of steel rebars in concrete

Phosphating is one of the most important chemical conversion treatments for steel, mainly to improve corrosion resistance and paint adhesion and as an absorbing layer for waxes, oils, lacquers, etc. However, phosphate coating are crystalline and porous and need a sealing treatment after phosphating. Chromate sealing is a well known practice, and due to its toxicity, development of an ecofriendly sealing treatment is very essential. This paper focuses on the effect of zinc phosphate chemical conversion coating with the addition of nano-SiO₂ to protect the mild steel rebars against corrosion in chloride contaminated concrete. The coated surfaces were characterised by scanning electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction. Corrosion resistances of coated and uncoated rebars were evaluated by anodic polarisation, linear polarisation resistance, Tafel and alternating current impedance spectroscopy and cyclic polarisation technique. The results indicated that the coated rebars have considerably reduced the corrosion rate even in the presence of 3% chloride environments.