Aluminum Pigments Encapsulated by MTES and TEOS for Corrosion Inhibition and their Characterizations

Aluminum pigments were encapsulated by hydrolysis and condensation of tetraethoxysilane (TEOS) and methyltriethoxysilane (MTES). The influences of solvents and ratio of MTES/TEOS on corrosion inhibition performance were studied. The FTIR, XPS and SEM analysis showed that both TEOS and MTES hydrolyzed and condensed at the same time to form a compact and thin sol-gel layer on the surface of aluminum pigments. Aluminum pigments encapsulated by MTES and TEOS, which can hardly generate H2 in acid media of pH=1 within 12h, show greatly excellent corrosion resistance than that only by TEOS or by MTES, due to the formation of a compact and thin hybrid film to protect aluminum particles from corrosive media.