Corrosion protective and antibacterial epoxy coating via benzyldisulfide‑sulfur-doped graphene oxide with machine-learning simulation support

Abstract

This paper presents a novel approach to enhancing corrosion resistance and antibacterial properties of polymer coatings. Using benzyldisulfide (BDS) as a precursor, sulfur-doped graphene oxide (BGO) nanoflakes were fabricated through a hydrothermal method. The sulfur atoms were successfully integrated into the GO structure and its reduction through high-temperature treatment was validated by a number of experiments, including FE-SEM/EDS, FTIR, Raman, and XPS studies. The GO and BGO nanoflakes were then embedded in an epoxy‑silicone matrix. The prepared BGO-incorporated coating exhibited remarkable hydrophobicity and superior performance in electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) than the GO-containing counterparts. According to the study, the exceptional corrosion protection observed in BGO-incorporated coating can be attributed to the hydrophobic nature and corrosion inhibition properties of the sulfur provided by the S-doped nanosheets. Furthermore, a neural network was applied to EIS data. Results showed that long-term EIS curves could be acceptably predicted using short-term EIS data. Moreover, the presence of BGO nanoparticles increased the generation of reactive oxygen species and significantly improved the coating's antibacterial activity. Overall, this study highlights the potential of BGO in improving coating antibacterial activity and corrosion protection.