On the corrosion protection properties of fluoropolymer coatings

Fluoropolymers have attained great importance as coating materials because of their excellent resistance to high temperature, chemicals and organic solvents. Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy was used to study the corrosion protection properties both on undamaged fluoropolymer coatings and on samples with an artificial defect. The experimental results were interpreted on the basis of a proposed equivalent electrical circuit which best fits the experimental impedance spectra. In this way we observed the high quality of the fluorinated coatings compared with that of the corresponding hydrogenated polymer used as a reference. The protective properties of the fluoropolymer coatings studied can be related to chemical (fluorine and chlorine functional groups) and physical (good order of the polymeric chains) characteristics of the resins.