Anticorrosion Behaviours of the TiO2 / WO3 Composite Photoelectrodes for 304 Stainless Steel

TiO2 is one kind of semiconductor-based photocatalyst. TiO2 shows relatively high reactivity and chemical stability under ultraviolet (UV) light. However TiO2 is a poor absorber of photons in visible light. In order to improve the absorption efficiency, the coatings of TiO2/WO3, WO3 and TiO2 on ITO were prepared by liquid phase deposition (LPD) and dip coating method, their microstructure, surface properties, photoelectrochemical properties are investigated in this paper. XRD results showed that the phases on the composite coatings are mainly anatase, rutile and WO3 respectively, the SEM results showed that the coatings of TiO2 and TiO2/WO3 are distributed evenly on the materials surface. The electrochemical experiment results showed that open circuit potential of TiO2 and TiO2/WO3 with presence of the UV light illumination were about -343 mV and –650 mV respectively, comparatively the rest potential of 304 stainless steel is about 48 mV, which means that the TiO2 or TiO2/WO3 coatings can protect 304 stainless steel from corrosion, and TiO2/WO3 coatings retained for a while anticorrosion even absence of UV light.