Electrochemical investigations on anticorrosive and electrochromic properties of electroactive polyurea

Abstract

In this study, electrochemical investigation of corrosion protection and electrochromic properties of aniline-pentamer-based electroactive polyurea (EPU) coating prepared by oxidative coupling polymerization is presented. Monitoring of the in situ chemical oxidation process for the reduced form of soluble EPU in N-methyl-2-pyrrolidone (NMP) by the incorporation of an oxidant was performed by measuring UV-Visible absorption spectra. Moreover, the electroactivity of EPU was evaluated by performing electrochemical cyclic voltammetry (CV) studies. The EPU coating was found to exhibit enhanced corrosion protection effect on cold-rolled steel (CRS) electrodes as compared to a corresponding non-electroactive polyurea (NEPU) coating based on a series of electrochemical measurements in 3.5 wt% NaCl electrolyte. The electrochromic performance of EPU was investigated by measuring electrochromic photographs and UV absorption spectra.