Bonding characteristics and corrosion resistance of silanecerium-treated aluminum adherend

Abstract

A silanecerium treatment was applied on an aluminum adherend to simultaneously improve the bonding performance and corrosion resistance of the adhesively bonded aluminum joint in cryogenic applications, such as with liquefied natural gas containment tanks. The lap shear strengths and corrosion performances of the adhesively bonded joints composed of treated aluminum adherends were measured with respect to the silanecerium treatment and the surface pretreatment on the aluminum adherend. The bonding characteristics of the aluminum adherend were investigated by measuring the water contact angle and conducting the potentiodynamic polarization test after the aluminum adherends with different surface treatments of silanecerium were immersed in a 0.5M NaCl solution. In addition, the surfaces were analyzed with scanning electron microscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy to characterize the chemical compositions of the silanecerium-treated aluminum adherend. The experimental results show that an appropriate silanecerium treatment on the aluminum adherend produces an effective corrosion-resistant layer and that it has a highly reliable bonding characteristic for the adhesive joint at a cryogenic temperature of 150 degrees C.