Corrosion Protection Behavior of Electrogalvanized Steel Sheet by Tetravalent Vanadium Ion

Abstract

The corrosion protection behavior of electrogalvanized steel sheets (EG) by the tetravalent vanadium ion was investigated. Immersion of the bare EG in a NaCl solution revealed that the addition of vanadium(IV) oxide sulfate to the solution led to a decrease in cathodic reactivity to form vanadium(III) oxides on the EG surface. The oxide layer also included ZnO, indicating that Zn on the EG surface was oxidized while the vanadium(IV) species was reduced to the vanadium(III) species. The vanadium(IV) species could be a candidate as a self-healing inhibitor for chromate-free coatings by controlling the coupling of Zn oxidation and vanadium(IV) reduction.

Keywords: corrosion protection, vanadium(IV) ion, electrogalvanized steel sheet