Effect of Organosilicon Self-Assembled Polymeric Nanolayers Formed during Surface Modification by Compositions Based on Organosilanes on the Atmospheric Corrosion of Metals

Reducing the risks caused by losses due to the atmospheric corrosion of metal structures has been relevant for many years and is an important scientific and technical task. Previously, for this purpose, the preliminary modification of the surface of structural metals with solutions of compositions, based on both individual organosilanes and their mixtures with amine-containing corrosion inhibitors, was proposed. Such treatment leads to the formation of self-assembled siloxane polymeric/oligomeric nanoscale layers on the metal surface, which are capable of changing the physicochemical properties of the metal surface (namely, by reducing the tendency of the metal to corrosive destruction). In this work, annual atmospheric corrosion tests of samples of steel, copper, zinc, and aluminum without protection, and samples modified with compositions based on organosilanes in an urban atmosphere, were carried out. It was established (by the gravimetric method) that the corrosion rate of unmodified (without protection) metals is as follows: steel—0.0022 mm/year; aluminum—0.0015 mm/year; copper—0.00018 mm/year; and zinc—0.00023 mm/year. Using gravimetry and optical microscopy, it was shown that the preliminary modification of metal surfaces with compositions based on organosilanes led to the inhibition of both uniform and local corrosion of metals. The corrosion rates of samples that were modified with one-component compositions decreased by almost two times. The maximum inhibitory effect for the studied systems was demonstrated by mixed binary modifying compositions: mixtures of vinyl- and aminosilane, vinylsilane, and benzotriazole. The corrosion rate decreased for all the studied metals. The minimum effect was observed on zinc (2.5 times) and the maximum inhibition of the corrosion rate was obtained on copper (5.1 times). The mechanism of corrosion inhibition by layers formed as a result of surface modification with two-component mixtures was considered.