Corrosion behavior of plasma sprayed ceramic and metallic coatings on carbon steel in simulated seawater

Al2O3, ZrO2 and Ni60 coatings were produced on carbon steels by plasma spray. Ni60 was used as the bond coat in all the cases. The microstructure of these coatings was analyzed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The corrosion behavior of the plasma spray coated samples as well as uncoated samples was evaluated by open circuit potential (OCP) measurements, potentiodynamic polarization tests, and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) in simulated seawater. The results showed that Ni60 coating protected carbon steels against the corrosion and plasma spraying ceramic powders on metallic coating improved the corrosion resistance of the coatings further. The corrosion resistance of the Al2O3 coating was superior to that of the ZrO2 coating due to the relatively few defects in Al2O3 coating.