Stimuli-responsive polymeric additives for anticorrosion

Corrosion is a significant issue for metals and alloys items because it critically affects their lifetimes. To protect the metal from corrosion, corrosion inhibitors can be added into coatings, but the inhibitor can leach into the environment. Polymer-corrosion inhibitor conjugates are developed to solve this problem. However, corrosion can occur in various fields of applications, which then need a different level and type of metal's protection. beta-thiopropionate and ester linkages between polymer and inhibitor are selected as model for very labile and moderately labile linkages, respectively. The rate of inhibitor's release is controlled by the linkage of conjugated payloads. Corrosion measurements indicated that polymers with the beta-thiopropionate linkage are suitable for severe corrosion and short-term applications, whereas the polymers with ester linkage can be used for mild corrosion and long-term applications.