Self-healing and superhydrophobic dual-function composite coating for active protection of magnesium alloys

Anti-corrosion inorganic-organic hybrid coating with the self-healing feature is still scare for the Mg alloys. The adhesion between various compositions is one troublesome problem. On the other hand, the incorporation of corrosion inhibitor would destroy the feature of organic film leading to the inferior anti-corrosion performance. The hybrid coating, PEO/IN/QSE, with the self-healing feature is firstly fabricated on Mg alloys, in which the corrosion inhibitor of imidazolium-based ionic liquid (IN) is embedded in the plasma electrolytic oxidation (PEO) pores and the superhydrophobic film (QSE) is covered on the top. The IN embedded in the pores of PEO layer does not destroy the feature of QSE film and improve the anti-corrosion performance of PEO layer. And it affords the self-healing function, which is determined by the anti-corrosion test with the scratched samples. More important, it strengthens the adhesion between QSE and PEO coating as a bridge. This work provides a feasible strategy to prepare the inorganic-organic composite film with the promising applications for the anti-corrosion of the Mg alloys.