Enhancement of active anticorrosion via Ce-doped Zn-Al layered double hydroxides embedded in sol-gel coatings on aluminum alloy

Ce-doped Zn-Al layered double hydroxide (LDH) nanocontainer was synthesized by a co-precipitation method. X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) methods were used for the characterization of the LDH nanocontainer. The anticorrosion activity of the LDH powders embedded in a hybrid sol-gel coating on aluminum alloy 2024 was investigated by electrochemical impendence spectroscopy (EIS). The results showed that Ce (III) ions were successfully incorporated into LDHs layers. The sol-gel coating modified with Ce-doped Zn-Al LDHs exhibited higher anticorrosion behavior compared with both unmodified and Ce-undoped LDHs containing coatings, which proved the applicability of Ce-doped LDHs in delaying coating degradation and their potential application as nanocontainers of corrosion inhibitors in self-healing coatings.