Rationally designed phosphate-doped zinc-cobalt based MOFs wrapped ZnAl-LDH decorated LGO; towards designing epoxy coating with enhanced mechanical & thermal properties

Abstract

Epoxy coatings application in industries has been broadened due to their exceptional features. However, the high brittleness and poor fracture resistance are two major drawbacks of the epoxy coating (EPC) that limit its durability in harsh outdoor conditions. Advanced nanomaterials i.e., GO have been noticed in recent studies as powerful candidates for resolving epoxy weaknesses. However, the improper dispersion, as well as the weak interaction of GO with epoxy, are the most important challenging issues that remain unsolved. For the first time, GO was reduced and then assembled with the LDH and metal–organic frameworks (i.e., ZF-8, ZF-67) to reach high dispersion levels and strong interactions with the polymer matrix for improving the coating thermal/mechanical characteristics simultaneously.TGA test outcomes declared about 2947% and 2895% increment levels in the EPC thermal resistance after the inclusion of the phosphate-doped LGO@LDH-ZF-67/ZF-8 and LGO@LDH-ZF-8/ZF-67 nanostructures. Tensile test results revealed that in the presence of the phosphate-doped LGO@LDH-ZF-67/ZF-8 and LGO@LDH-ZF-8/ZF-67 nanostructures about 178% and 163%, respectively, improvements in the fracture energy (FE) of the EPC were achieved. According to the DMTA test outcomes, the phosphate-doped LGO@LDH-ZF-67/ZF-8 containing EPC showed 191% and 16% improvements in storage modulus at the glassy region and cross-linking density, respectively.