Investigation of the Anti-Corrosion Properties of Fluorinated Graphene-Modified Waterborne Epoxy Coatings for Carbon Steel

Baojie Dou,Xiulei Gao,Hang Xiao,Xiuzhou Lin,Yingjun Zhang,Shixiong Zhao,Song Duan,Zhiwen Fang

doi:10.3390/coatings11020254

Abstract

Waterborne epoxy resin (WEP) has been widely used as an anti-corrosive coating for metals. However, it is still a big challenge to further improve its anti-corrosion performance due to the poor barrier properties to corrosive media. In this study, fluorinated graphene (FG) was used as a filler in WEP to improve its barrier properties, which contributes to corrosion resistance enhancement. The chemical composition and microstructures of FG and FG-modified WEP were systematically analyzed, and its corrosion resistance was also studied. Results reveal that the addition of FG sheet to WEP not only can significantly improve the tensile strength of WEP coating, but also increase the barrier properties of WEP coating and block the penetration of corrosive agent throughout the coating to the interface between coating and substrate. Meanwhile, the results also declare that the F content of FG has a significant effect on mechanical properties and long-term corrosion resistance, and the performance of FG-modified WEP coating will deteriorate with the increase of F content.

Highlights

Corrosion commonly appears in our daily life, and may give rise to tremendous economic losses and many potential safety problems [1]
More attention has been paid to the waterborne epoxy resins (WEP) due to the increased legislative restrictions on the emission of organic solvents into the atmosphere [5]
It is a big challenge for WEP coating to achieve ideal corrosion resistance due to its poor barrier properties to corrosive media, such as oxygen, water, and chloride ions [6]

Summary

Introduction

Corrosion commonly appears in our daily life, and may give rise to tremendous economic losses and many potential safety problems [1]. More attention has been paid to the waterborne epoxy resins (WEP) due to the increased legislative restrictions on the emission of organic solvents into the atmosphere [5]. It is a big challenge for WEP coating to achieve ideal corrosion resistance due to its poor barrier properties to corrosive media, such as oxygen, water, and chloride ions [6]. Researchers applied numerous measures to enhance the barrier performance and corrosion protection properties of waterborne coatings. Nanofillers addition has been studied extensively, such as ZnO [7], TiO2 [8], ZrO2 [9] and PANi [10]

Methods

Results

Conclusion