In-situ preparation of triazole polymerization films on copper surface via SI-ATRP method and their performance against copper corrosion

As one of the most advanced film forming technologies, the surface-initiated controlled/living radical polymerization provides an effective method for in-situ fabricating functional films on material surface. In this paper, the triazole film of polymerized (1-tosyl-1H-1,2,3-triazol-4-yl) methyl acrylate (P-TTMA) is in-situ prepared on copper surface via Cu catalyzed surface-initiated atom transfer radical polymerization (SI-ATRP) method. The P-TTMA film with different degree of polymerization (DP) is obtained by varying its molecular weight, which is achieved via regulating the polymerization time of SI-ATRP reaction. When the polymerization time is within 48 h, the SI-ATRP system can achieve a regular chain growth of P-TTMA film, the DP value of P-TTMA film shows an S-shaped variation as the polymerization time increasing. The electrochemical test is performed to evaluate the anticorrosion performance of different P-TTMA films for copper. The result demonstrates that the P-TTMA films exhibit good anticorrosion performance for Cu in 3.5 wt% NaCl solution. The P-TTMA obtained by 48 h polymerization time, with the DP value of 105, exhibits the stable and good protection performance. The anticorrosion performance of P-TTMA film can be optimized via regulating the SI-ATRP reaction. This paper provides a new idea for preparing inhibition film with a certain degree of polymerization and protection performance on metal surface. It is expected to be a theoretical guidance for fabricating triazole polymer film using ATRP with lower catalyst loading or metal-free ATRP in the coming future.