Investigating the effect of nanofillers on the corrosion protection of epoxy coatings
In a research work, tetraethyl orthosilicate (TEOS) was used as organosilane to decorate the surface of graphene oxide (GO) nanosheets by SiO2 nanospheres via a facile method.
Results of X-ray diffraction analysis, Raman spectroscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, field emission scanning electron microscopy, and atomic force microscopy reveal that SiO2 nanospheres have covered the surface of GO sheets through covalent bonding and SiO2-GO nanohybrids are successfully synthesised.
Coatings show superior corrosion protection
Further, the effect of incorporating 0.1 wt% GO nanosheets and/or SiO2-GO nanohybrids on properties of epoxy coatings was investigated. The results show that the pull-off adhesion strength of epoxy coatings to mild steel substrates and the water contact angle on coatings significantly increase via adding SiO2-GO nanohybrids. The potentiodynamic polarisation test, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) and salt spray test results demonstrate that corrosion protection performance of epoxy coatings remarkably enhances by embedding well-distributed SiO2-GO nanohybrids compared to GO nanosheets.
The study is published in: Surface and Coatings Technology, Volume 311, 15 February 2017, Pages 282–294
