Effect on lacquer adhesion of solid state properties of tin oxides

To promote lacquer adhesion, different thin films of tin oxides have been grown by means of electrochemical treatments on low tin-plated ferritic steels. The chemical composition and semiconducting properties of the oxide films have been studied by means of the combined use of X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and electrochemical analytical techniques. These materials were coated with an epoxy-phenolic lacquer and subjected to wet lacquer adhesion tests. Along with these adhesion measurements, XPS and electrochemical results show that the lacquer adhesion is enhanced when there is an increase in the extent of p-type semiconduction and when the oxide film thickness is a few nanometres thick.