Effect of mixture ratio on water uptake and corrosion performance of silicone-epoxy hybrid coatings coated 2024 Al-alloy

A silicone-epoxy hybrid coating cured with amino silane was developed to provide corrosion protection on 2024 Al-alloy using air spraying. Water uptake characteristics of the silicone-epoxy hybrid coatings were investigated by electrochemical impedance spectroscopy in a 5 wt% NaCl solution. The effect of mixture ratio of silicone-epoxy and amino-silane on the water uptake (solubility, diffusion coefficient and permeation) was studied by using a single frequency (10 kHz) capacitance method. The glass transition temperature (T_g) was also investigated through differential scanning calorimeter (DSC) before and after immersion in the NaCl solution. Consequently, the excess of silicone-epoxy resin or amino silane improved the solubility of water in the coatings. A low water permeation coefficient was obtained with the mixing ratio 8/2 of silicone-epoxy and amino-silane, in which the T_g value was found to be larger than other three mixing ratios before immersion. After immersion for 750 h, the impedance modulus of EFA 2 coating (mixing ratio 8/2) in the low frequency was still close to 10⁸ Ω cm² that accounts for the good protective performance.