Structural and Protecting Properties of Functional Organic Coatings on Copper

Abstract

The paper presents a new approach to the enhancement of structural and barrier properties of thioaromatic self-assembled films on polycrystalline copper. Self-assembled thioaromatic films were modified by potentiodynamic cycling in ethanolic solutions containing milimolar quantities of 1-dodecanethiol. Results obtained using goniometry and polarization modulation infrared reflection absorption spectroscopy demonstrated an improvement in films' structural properties, including higher surface packing density, order and hydrophobicity of electrochemically modified over unmodified thioaromatic films, due to the repair of film defects/pores and exchange. Impedance spectroscopy results showed that the electrochemically modified thioaromatic films offer high corrosion protection in aqueous saline solution, in comparison to spontaneously formed thioaromatic films.