Self–healing capability of epoxy coatings

The self–healing capability of epoxy coatings modified with coaxial core–shell nanofibers loaded with the corrosion inhibitor 2–mercaptobenzothiazole (MBT) was investigated using electrochemical techniques. The polyvinyl alcohol/polyvinylidene fluoride core–shell nanofibers were prepared by coaxial electrospinning.

A promising strategy

Electrochemical impedance results showed that the MBT–loaded coaxial nanofibers improved the barrier properties and decreased the corrosion activity of the coatings. Results of the Scanning Kelvin Probe technique revealed that the MBT–loaded coaxial nanofibers healed corrosion over artificial defects exposed to NaCl electrolytes. These results indicate that adding MBT–loaded coaxial nanofibers to epoxy coatings is a promising strategy toward the development of self–healing epoxy coatings.

The study is published in: Progress in Organic Coatings Volume 120, July 2018, Pages 49-57.