Bioinspired Smart Anticorrosive Coatings with an Emergency-Response Closing Function

Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• Corrosion Science
• Nanotechnology

Background:

• Graphene/epoxy (G/EP) coatings are explored for anticorrosion applications.
• Developing coatings with dynamic responses to environmental stimuli is crucial for long-term protection.
• Existing coatings often lack efficient mechanisms to block aggressive species under corrosive conditions.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a graphene/epoxy coating with an emergency-response closing (ERC) function for diffusion pathways.
• To utilize terpyridine derivative (TDD)-functionalized graphene oxide (tGO) for self-adaptive anticorrosion.
• To investigate the self-assembly behavior of tGO in response to ferrous ions for metal protection.

Main Methods:

• Functionalization of graphene oxide with terpyridine derivative (TDD) to create tGO.
• Fabrication of tGO/epoxy (tGO/EP) composite coatings.
• Stimulation of coatings with ferrous (Fe2+) ions to observe aggregation and response.
• Electrochemical testing and simulation to evaluate anticorrosion performance and diffusion pathway blocking.
• Measurement of oxygen (ORT) and water vapor transmittance rate (WVTR) changes.

Main Results:

• tGO sheets aggregated in the presence of Fe2+ ions, mimicking natural closing mechanisms.
• The tGO/EP coating exhibited significantly reduced changes in ORT and WVTR after immersion in ferrous solution.
• Simulations and electrochemical data confirmed self-assembly of tGO into 3D architectures with Fe2+ ions.
• Efficient protection of metals from aggressive species attack was demonstrated.

Conclusions:

• The tGO/EP coating provides an effective ERC function through self-adaptability with Fe2+ ions, ensuring long-term anticorrosion.
• This self-adaptive graphene anticorrosive coating offers a promising route for enhancing metal protection.
• The developed coating holds significant potential for durable anticorrosive coating applications in metal components.