• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.32 no.6
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• pp.653-658
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• 2021

Polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) is a promising coating material because of its outstanding processability. The PVDF coating, however, has limitations in anti-corrosion application due to its weak hydrophobicity compared to that of other fluoropolymers. In this study, plasma fluorination was performed using carbon tetrafluoride (CF₄) gas to improve anti-corrosion properties of PVDF. The fluorine content and hydrophobicity of PVDF were investigated in different CF₄ flow rates, followed by the determination of anti-corrosion properties. The fluorine content on the surface of the PVDF film increased by up to 46.70%, but the surface free energy was independent of CF₄ flow rate. Meanwhile, the surface roughness of the PDVF film tended to increase by up to 150% and then decrease with increasing CF₄ flow rate. It is considered that the plasma fluorination affects the surface free energy due to the introduction of fluorine functional groups and surface etching. In addition, the degree of corrosion of the PVDF-coated Fe plate was significantly reduced from 49.2% to 19.0% compared to that of the uncoated Fe plate. In particular, the degree of corrosion of the fluorinated PVDF-coated Fe plate was 13.6%, which was 28.4% lower than that of the PVDF-coated Fe plate, showing improved anti-corrosion protection.