Nanoengineered t-ZrO2 coatings for superior corrosion resistance on steel surfaces
H. Mohamed Kasim Sheit, K.S. Mohan, N. Geetha, R. Lavanya, Karthik Kannan, S. Esakki Muthu, A. Manikandan, Prabhu Paramasivam, Saravanan Rajendran, Madhappan Santhamoorthy, S. Santhoshkumar, Ankush Mehta
Abstract
Abstract Corrosion of steel has several catastrophic consequences in various sectors. The inorganic nanoparticle-based anticorrosive coating on steel drew important attention to its large surface-to-volume ratio. The primary aim of this study is to synthesize and characterize t-ZrO 2 nanoparticles at an optimized annealing temperature and evaluate their structural, morphological, and optical properties. Additionally, the study investigates their effectiveness as a corrosion inhibitor for carbon steel in 1 M H 2 SO 4 . The study explores the cheap, facile, green synthesis of t-ZrO 2 nanoparticles (NPs) through bark extract from the gum arabic plant ( Acacia nilotica ) for anticorrosive coatings on carbon steel. X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis confirms the tetragonal phase structure and the crystallite size, calculated using Scherrer’s formula, is found to be 8.1 nm. Fourier-transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy reveals the presence of Zr-O bonding along with organic residues from plant extracts, confirming the formation of t-ZrO 2 NPs. Field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) images confirm a rock stone-like structure, while energy dispersive X-ray (EDX) spectroscopy verifies the presence of Zr and O elements. The study further investigates the corrosion inhibition efficiency of t-ZrO 2 NPs on carbon steel in 1 M H 2 SO 4 . The atomic force microscopy (AFM) analyses reveal a smoother surface with reduced roughness in the presence of the inhibitor. Electrochemical measurements, including weight loss, potentiodynamic polarization, and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS), confirm a significant reduction in corrosion rate. The inhibition efficiency reaches 95.2% at 200 ppm of 0.2 M t-ZrO 2 NPs, with an increased charge transfer resistance (R ct ) of 14,715 Ω cm 2 and a reduced double-layer capacitance (C dl ) of 0.631 × 10⁸ F/cm 2 . These findings demonstrate that t-ZrO 2 NPs act as an effective corrosion inhibitor for carbon steel in acidic environments.