Embedded Corrosion Sensing with ZnO-PVDF Sensor Textiles

• Main Authors: Tonoy Chowdhury, Nandika D'Souza, Yee Hsien Ho, Narendra Dahotre, Ifana Mahbub
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2020-05-01
• Series: Sensors
• Subjects: nanocomposite; electrospinning; ZnO-PVDF fiber mesh; corrosion; sensor
• Online Access: https://www.mdpi.com/1424-8220/20/11/3053

Corrosion in underground and submerged steel pipes is a global problem. Coatings serve as an impermeable barrier or a sacrificial element to the transport of corrosive fluids. When this barrier fails, corrosion in the metal initiates. There is a critical need for sensors at the metal/coating interface as an early alert system. Current options utilize metal sensors, leading to accelerating corrosion. In this paper, a non-conductive sensor textile as a viable solution was investigated. For this purpose, non-woven Zinc (II) Oxide-Polyvinylidene Fluoride (ZnO-PVDF) nanocomposite fiber textiles were prepared in a range of weight fractions (1%, 3%, and 5% ZnO) and placed at the coating/steel interface. The properties of ZnO-PVDF nanocomposite meshes were characterized using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), x-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) and <i>d₃₃</i> meter. Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) testing was performed during the immersion of the coated samples to validate the effectiveness of the sensor textile. The results offer a new option for sub-surface corrosion sensing using low cost, easily fabricated sensor textiles.