25%Al-Zn alloy coating performs better than hot dip galvanized coating and 55%Al-Zn-Si coating with regard to general seawater corrosion protection. This study deals with the interfacial intermetallic layer's growth, which affects considerably the corrosion resistance and mechanical properties of 25%Al-Zn alloy coatings, by means of three-factor quadratic regressive orthogonal experiments. The regression equation shows that the intermetallic layer thickness decreases rapidly with increasing content of Si added to the Zn-Al alloy bath, increases with rise in the bath temperature and prolonging dip time. The most effective factor that determined the thickness of intermetallic layer was the amount of Si added to Zn-Al alloy bath, while the effect of bath temperature and dip time on the thickness of intermetallic layer were not very obvious.

A comparative investigation of hot dip Zn–25Al alloy, Zn–55Al–Si and Zn coatings on steel was performed with attention to their corrosion performance in seawater. The results of 2-year exposure testing of these at Zhoushan test site are reported here. In tidal and immersion environments, Zn–25Al alloy coating is several times more durable than zinc coating of double thickness. At long exposure times, corrosion rate for the Zn–25Al alloy coating remains indistinguishable from that for the Zn–55Al–Si coating of similar thickness in tidal zone, and is two to three times lower than the latter in immersion zone. The decrease in tensile strength suggested that galvanized and Zn–55Al–Si coated steel suffer intense pitting corrosion in immersion zone. The electrochemical tests showed that all these coatings provide cathodic protection to the substrate metal; the galvanic potentials are equal to – 1,050, – 1,025 and – 880 mV (SCE) for zinc, Zn–25Al alloy and Zn–55Al–Si coating, respectively, which are adequate to keep the steel inside the immunity region. It is believed that the superior performance of the Zn–25Al alloy coating is due to its optimal combination of the uniform corrosion resistance and pitting corrosion resistance. The inferior corrosion performance by comparison of the Zn coating mainly results from its larger dissolution rate, while the failure of the Zn–55Al–Si coating is probably related to its higher susceptibility to pitting corrosion in seawater.

Seabed sediment (SBS) is a special soil that is covered by seawater. With the developments in marine oil exploitation and engineering, more and more steel structures have been buried in SBS. SBS corrosion has now become a serious problem in marine environment and an important issue in corrosion science. In this paper, approach in the field of SBS corrosion is reviewed. Electrochemical and microbial corrosion factors, corrosion mechanism, measurement of metal corrosion rate, corrosion evaluation and prediction of corrosion are also discussed here.

Flower-like CuO nanostructures have been synthesized by cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB)-assisted hydrothermal method. Here, CuCl₂.2H₂O was used as copper raw material, and sodium hydroxide was used as precipitate. The resulting CuO powders were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM). X-ray diffraction (XRD) pattern exhibited the nanocrystalline nature with monoclinic structure for the as-synthesized nanostructures. FESEM images indicated that the flower-like CuO nanostructures are composed of many interconnected nanosheets in size of several micrometres in length and width and 60–80 nm in thickness. The possible formation mechanism of flower-like CuO nanostructures was discussed.