Mesoporous silica based reservoir for the active protection of mild steel in an aggressive chloride ion environment

Abstract

Spherical mesoporous silica (m-SiO₂) with well-ordered pores was synthesized by a modified Stöber method using CTAB micelles. The as-prepared silica was used as a reservoir to load a corrosion inhibitor. Steel samples that were coated with the inhibitor loaded silica reservoir exhibited improved corrosion resistance compared to the samples without the silica reservoir in an aggressive chloride environment. Localised electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (LEIS) and scanning vibrating electrode technique (SVET) data suggest that inhibitor release is triggered by the local corrosion phenomena, which leads to active protection of the metal.