Properties of Zinc Phosphate Coatings on Carbon Steel Using a Thermostatic Cell and a Mobile System

Phosphate coatings can prevent or minimize the environmental corrosion of metals and they are often used as the base for subsequent coatings or painting processes. In this work a mobile device was used to perform carbon steel phosphating, which will work against corrosion. The methodology used involved mechanical cleaning of the substrate as well as a chemical cleaning to eliminate possible contaminants on the metal surface. Following that, the superficial phosphating was performed to find the ideal conditions that gave the best results. Finally, the results from SEM and XRD analysis showed the morphology and surface composition of the coatings obtained from both studied methods. The results from the applied dipped cell method compared with the mobile system indicated the reliability of the methods.