Corrosion and Adhesion of Electrophoretic Paint on AZ31 Magnesium Alloy Pretreated in Cerium Chemical Conversion Coating Solution

In this study, the corrosion resistance and adhesion of electrophoretic paint (E-paint) were studied on AZ31 magnesium alloy pretreated in cerium chemical conversion coating solutions with the addition of various ethanol concentrations. It was found that with increasing ethanol concentration from 0 to 90 percent can decrease the formation of $Mg(OH)_2/MgO$ and increase the formation of nano-crystalline cerium oxides on the coating. Both corrosion resistance and adhesion of E-painted AZ31 increased with increasing ethanol concentration. The best E-paint sample was observed on the sample pretreatment in cerium chemical conversion coating solution with the addition of 80 percent of ethanol. This sample showed an excellent adhesion without paint detached after water immersion test for 500 h at $40^{\circ}C$, and only a few blisters observed at the near scratched sites after 1000 h salt-spray test.