Construction of highly anti-corrosion and super-hydrophobic polypropylene/graphene oxide nanocomposite coatings on carbon steel: Experimental, electrochemical and molecular dynamics studies

Abstract

An anti-corrosion and super-hydrophobic coating of polypropylene (PP) was developed on mild steel surface to prevent the penetration of corrosive agents into the substrate. Additives such as polypropylene grafted with maleic anhydride (PP-g-MAH) and graphene oxide (GO) were introduced to the PP matrix to improve corrosion and hydrophobicity properties. The experimental results showed that the addition of PP-g-MAH and GO increased the compactness so that the PP coating obtained from the solution contained 1.5 g PP-g-MAH and 2 mg GO indicated the highest corrosion resistance (800 times greater than pure PP), the lowest surface roughness (87 nm) and average contact angle of 166◦. The MD results also illustrated that the presence of GO enhanced the density (compactness) from 0.80 to 0.85 g/cm3. The overall results confirmed that the made composite coating is highly effective in preventing the degradation of commonly used construction and building metals such as mild steel.