Effects of corrosion inhibiting pigment lanthanum 4-hydroxy cinnamate on the filiform corrosion of coated steel

Corrosion protection by lanthanum hydroxy cinnamate (La(4OH-cin)3) in a polyurethane based varnish coating for mild steelhas been investigated. Filiform scribe tests, energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDXS) and potentiodynamic polarisation (PP)techniques have been powerful tools to better understand the corrosion process at defects and under the coating. Filiform scribetests showed that La(4OH-cin)3, as a pigment in a coating, inhibited the initiation and propagation of both delamination and filiformcorrosion (FFC) on coated steel. The PP experiments provided an insight into the fundamental mechanism of FFC. The resultssuggest that La(4OH-cin)3 behaves as a mixed inhibitor and stifles the initiation and propagation of FFC. In this paper, the theory ofdelamination leading to FFC and the likely mechanism of inhibition by the La(4OH-cin)3 will be discussed.