Anticorrosion coatings were produced by spraying pure simple silane compounds, either tetraethoxysilane (TEOS) or tetraphenoxysilane (TPOS), in a preheated furnace on specimens of carbon steel alloy. These specimens were thermally decomposed over various temperature ranges, covering a total temperature range of 20-1050 degreesC. This temperature range was divided into four sectors. The specific functions of each of these sectors were described as: hydrolysis (20-50 degreesC), low pyrolysis (50-250 degreesC), middle pyrolysis (250-750 degreesC), and high pyrolysis (750-1050 degreesC). SEM, ultrasonic vibration (USV), plane-cross polarized microscope, micro-hardness tester, XRD, and cyclic voltammography were utilized for analysis of the produced coatings. A comparison study between the anticorrosion coatings produced using TEOS or TPOS was targeted to evaluate two aspects. The first was the microstructure morphologies and corresponding variations of the chemical constituents and textural surfaces of the TEOS and TPOS coating materials at the selected pyrolysis temperature ranges. The second was the property of the TEOS and TPOS anticorrosion coating materials producing minimal decay for electrochemical protection of carbon steel alloy against corrosion under low and high acidic conditions. (C) 2003 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.