Enhancement of the corrosion resistance of the PEO-coated 5052 aluminum alloy by the chitosan film: Effects of solvent acids

Although the formation of plasma electrolytic oxidation (PEO) coatings on aluminum alloys can significantly enhance their service life, they may still suffer from corrosion damage when exposed to harsh environments with strong corrosivity for a long time. In this work, chitosan (CS) was dissolved in four acids, i.e. hydrochloric acid (HCl), citric acid (CA), lactic acid (LA), and acetic acid (HAc), and deposited onto the PEO-coated 5052 aluminum alloy using dip coating method. Scanning electron microscope (SEM), energy dispersive spectrometer (EDS), atomic force microscope (AFM), contact angle (CA) meter, grazing incidence X-ray diffraction (GIXRD), Fourier transform infrared spectrometer (FTIR), and electrochemical workstation system were used to explore the enhancement of the corrosion resistance of PEO-coated 5052 aluminum alloy by application of CS film prepared in different solvent acids. The results showed that the interactions between chitosan and acid ions affects the uniformity, hydrophobicity , thickness and surface roughness of the CS/PEO coating. The HAc-CS/PEO coating had the lowest surface roughness of 32.4 ± 3.9 nm, the largest contact angle of 85.7 ± 2.0°, and the thickest CS film of 20 μm, which significantly improved corrosion resistance of PEO-coated aluminum alloy.