Corrosion Performance of Electrodeposited Zinc and Zinc-Alloy Coatings in Marine Environment

Electrodeposited zinc and zinc-alloy coatings have been extensively used in a wide variety of applications such as transport, automotive, marine, and aerospace owing to their good corrosion resistance and the potential to be economically competitive. As a consequence, these coatings have become the industry choice for many applications to protect carbon and low alloy steels against degradation upon their exposure in different corrosive environments such as industrial, marine, coastal, etc. Significant works on the electrodeposition of Zn, Zn-alloys and their composites from conventional chloride, sulfate, aqueous and non-aqueous electrolyte media have been progressed over the past decade. This paper provides a review covering the corrosion performance of the electrodeposited Zn, Zn-alloy and composite with different coating properties that have been developed over the past decade employing low-toxic aqueous and halide-free non-aqueous electrolyte media. The influence of additives, nano-particle addition to the electrolyte media on the morphology, texture in relation to the corrosion performance of coatings with additional functionalities are reviewed in detail. In addition, the review covers the recent developments along with cost considerations and the future scope of Zn and Zn-alloy coatings.