Electrically conductive palm oil-based coating with UV curing ability
The aim of a study was to produce an electrically conductive environmentally friendly coating based on palm oil with UV curing ability.
Polyaniline is a polymer with excellent electrical conductivity and known to exhibit anti-corrosion properties through passivation. However, polyaniline itself is not a good coating binder, as it tends to produce a brittle film with poor adhesion properties. Therefore, palm oil-based polyester binder was synthesised and blended with polyaniline to produce an electrically active coating with improved film adhesion properties.
Corrosion studies on mild steel
The alkyd resin was formulated with a considerable amount of maleic acid formulation in order to render it UV curable. Both alkyd and polyaniline were characterised using FTIR, 1H NMR, TGA, and UV-Vis. To investigate the film properties of the coatings, tests including pencil hardness, adhesion tape, water and chemical resistance, conductivity, and thermal stability were carried out. In addition, corrosion studies on mild steels were determined using open circuit potential values, Tafel analysis and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy.
The study is published in: Progress in Organic Coatings, Volume 112, November 2017, Pages 9-17
