Correlation of electrochemical behavior and nanoscale interfacial processes in TiZr-pretreated polyester coil-coatings: Role of an adhesion promoter revealed by EIS and in situ ATR-FTIR
Abstract
The role of interfacial water in adhesion performance was investigated for coil-coated hot-dip galavanised steel pretreated with TiZr-based conversion layers, with and without an adhesion promoter. The polymer coating was a polyester/melamine system. Laboratory-prepared Zn model surfaces were used to perform in situ spectroscopic investigation of the metal/polymer interface. A multi-scale approach combining electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS), scanning electron microscopy with energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (SEM-EDS), electron probe microanalysis (EPMA), X-ray fluorescence (XRF), and in situ ATR-FTIR spectroscopy in the Kretschmann geometry was employed to correlate macroscopic electrochemical behavior with nanoscale interfacial processes. Water uptake was estimated between 0.5 to 0.8 vol.% independently of the surface pretreatment and regardless of the presence of the topcoat. The topcoat provided effective barrier properties independent of the surface pretreatment. When only the primer was applied, differences appeared. EIS analysis revealed earlier adhesion loss and/or corrosion initiation in absence of the adhesion promotor. In situ ATR-FTIR analysis and optical simulations of the IR spectra showed greater interfacial liquid-like water accumulation for TiZr, accompanied by early formation of Zn(OH)2 species. Surface analyses showed that the presence of the adhesion promoter led to a more uniform Ti distribution, reducing Ti-deficient regions. These results demonstrated that the adhesion promoter improved coating performance by stabilizing the metal/polymer interface and by limiting interfacial water accumulation. This work established a robust multi-scale methodology for probing interfacial processes in coil-coated systems.
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BibTeX
@article{jero2026correlation,
title = {{Correlation of electrochemical behavior and nanoscale interfacial processes in TiZr-pretreated polyester coil-coatings: Role of an adhesion promoter revealed by EIS and in situ ATR-FTIR}},
author = {Deni Jero and Dan Persson and Ville Saarimaa and Alexander Wärnheim and Nadine Pébère and Nathalie Lebozec and Dominique Thierry and Nicolas Caussé},
journal = {Applied Surface Sciences Advances},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.1016/j.apsadv.2026.101076},
url = {https://hal.science/hal-05777878v1},
note = {CC BY-NC-ND 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Correlation of electrochemical behavior and nanoscale interfacial processes in TiZr-pretreated polyester coil-coatings: Role of an adhesion promoter revealed by EIS and in situ ATR-FTIR
AU - Deni Jero
AU - Dan Persson
AU - Ville Saarimaa
AU - Alexander Wärnheim
AU - Nadine Pébère
AU - Nathalie Lebozec
AU - Dominique Thierry
AU - Nicolas Caussé
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/05
JO - Applied Surface Sciences Advances
DO - 10.1016/j.apsadv.2026.101076
UR - https://hal.science/hal-05777878v1
AB - The role of interfacial water in adhesion performance was investigated for coil-coated hot-dip galavanised steel pretreated with TiZr-based conversion layers, with and without an adhesion promoter. The polymer coating was a polyester/melamine system. Laboratory-prepared Zn model surfaces were used to perform in situ spectroscopic investigation of the metal/polymer interface. A multi-scale approach combining electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS), scanning electron microscopy with energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (SEM-EDS), electron probe microanalysis (EPMA), X-ray fluorescence (XRF), and in situ ATR-FTIR spectroscopy in the Kretschmann geometry was employed to correlate macroscopic electrochemical behavior with nanoscale interfacial processes. Water uptake was estimated between 0.5 to 0.8 vol.% independently of the surface pretreatment and regardless of the presence of the topcoat. The topcoat provided effective barrier properties independent of the surface pretreatment. When only the primer was applied, differences appeared. EIS analysis revealed earlier adhesion loss and/or corrosion initiation in absence of the adhesion promotor. In situ ATR-FTIR analysis and optical simulations of the IR spectra showed greater interfacial liquid-like water accumulation for TiZr, accompanied by early formation of Zn(OH)2 species. Surface analyses showed that the presence of the adhesion promoter led to a more uniform Ti distribution, reducing Ti-deficient regions. These results demonstrated that the adhesion promoter improved coating performance by stabilizing the metal/polymer interface and by limiting interfacial water accumulation. This work established a robust multi-scale methodology for probing interfacial processes in coil-coated systems.
SN - 2666-5239
ER -