Activation and fluoride-assisted phosphating of aluminum-silicon-coated steel

Phosphating is a crucial process in the corrosion protection of metals. Here, activation and fluoride-assisted tricationic phosphating is investigated on aluminum-silicon (AS) coated steel surfaces. Dynamic light scattering results from the activation bath show a bimodal size distribution, with hydrodynamic radii of ~400 nm and ~10 μm. For the smaller particle fraction, static light scattering results are consistent with the interpretation of disklike particles as scattering objects. Particles of the larger fraction sediment with time. In the presence of electrolyte, the scattering intensity from the larger particle fraction increases. Coagulation with time is suggested to be related to the decrease in activity of the activation bath. Scanning Auger microscopy (SAM) shows a higher phosphorus concentration after titanium phosphate activation in the Al-rich areas compared to the Si-rich areas of the AS coatings. There is no correlation between the size of the species in the activation bath, and the size of the phosphate-containing regions on the activated surface. Phosphating was performed in the presence of hexafluorosilicic acid, H2SiF6, ammonium hydrogen difluoride, NH4HF2, and both, at an initial pH of 2.5. The absence of crystals after phosphating with H2SiF6 is an indication that SiF6(2-) is the final product of the oxide dissolution in the presence of fluoride. In the presence of NH4HF2, the Si-rich regions of the surface are phosphated before the Si-poor (Al-rich) regions. Hence, the phosphate distribution after activation and after phosphating are opposite. These results show that a high surface concentration of phosphate after activation is not sufficient for a high coverage with phosphate crystals after phosphating.