The influence of the amount of benzotriazole (BTA) on the wetting and anticorrosion ability of the epoxy functionalized silica sol-gel (ESol) coating was studied by various complementary methods. IR results demonstrate that BTA reacted with ESol through a 1:1 addition reaction of N-H to epoxy group. The water contact angle of the ESol coating increases with an increase in the amount of BTA. SEM and adhesion tests reveal that BTA could improve the adhesion of ESol to copper surface. Moreover, the best protection was achieved when the amount of BTA equals to the molar number of epoxy group in the ESol coating according to the results of electrochemical measurements and salt spray test. (C) 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.