A waterborne coating system for constructing inorganic-organic composite anti-corrosion and wear-resistant coating

Abstract

In the fields of engineering and materials science, enhancing the corrosion resistance of engineered metal materials is extremely important. Most common anti-corrosion coatings often lack the capacity to resist external damages, which can lead to a failure in the coating's physical shielding effect. In this study, we have developed an all-water-based, simple one-step spray method for preparing a modified phosphate-based organic-inorganic composite coating, designated as AP-S30@Al2O3@PTFE. The nanofillers of polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) and alumina (Al2O3) were dispersed into inorganic binder aluminum phosphate (AP) modified by silica sol (S30). The effects of the incorporation of S30 and Al2O3 as the second hard phase on their wettability, mechanical properties, microscopic morphology, abrasion resistance, and corrosion resistance of the composite coatings were investigated. The results showed that the AP-S30@Al2O3@PTFE coating significantly improved the corrosion resistance of the metal, with the open current density decreasing from 2.285×10−5 to 1.653×10−7 mA·cm−2, and the open potential decreasing from −0.7533 to −0.2577 V. In addition, the composite coating provides a significant improvement in wear resistance. Thus, this cost-effective and eco-friendly method may offer significant contributions to the design and fabrication of strategic composite coatings, advancing their practical deployment in the protection of metal surfaces.