Graphene/Waterborne Epoxy Coatings with Dual Functionalities of Barrier and Corrosion Inhibitor

A facile and environmentally-friendly method is developed to prepare graphene/waterborne epoxy (WEP) composite coatings. The graphene nanosheets are produced with electrochemical-exfoliation in the solution containing surfactants, cetyl trimethyl ammonium bromide (CTAB) and sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS). The nanosheets containing solution thus formed is subjected to a quick dialysis and then directly used as a diluent for WEP without any further treatment. This preparation method overcomes the commonly identified problems of aggregations and ‘corrosion promotion’ effect associated with graphene, and increases the impedance of the composite coatings by more than two orders of magnitude. The analysis of anticorrosion performance suggested that the presence of surfactants not only improves the dispersibility of graphene nanosheets but also endows the composite coatings with both barrier and corrosion inhibition capabilities. The strategy reported herein may pave the path to the large-scale production of the graphene anticorrosion coatings. Figure 1