Carbon dots modified PANI nanocomposites in acrylic resin coatings for enhancing the anticorrosion and antifouling properties

Zero-dimensional nitrogen-doped carbon dots (N-CDs) have been proved effective when introduced into the polymerization system of aniline as the hard template to synthesis small-sized, monodisperse and highly conductive N-CDs/PANI (N-CDs/PANI) nanocomposites, which were then added into acrylic (AC) resin to produce coatings with excellent corrosion resistance and antifouling performances in this paper. Compared with the PANI, the N-CDs/PANI did show remarkably improved anticorrosion and antifouling properties. The protection efficiency of the AC resin coating was increased by 5 times and to 57.3% with the addition of the N-CDs/PANI, which is higher than that of the AC resin coating, about 37.0%, with the addition of the PANI. In addition, the AC resin coating containing N-CDs/PANI exhibited additional antifouling properties with an algae inhibition rate of about 24.6%, since the redox property of the carbon dots could destroy the photosynthesis of microorganisms such as Chlorella. Furthermore, because that the N-CDs/PANI had better dispersibility than PANI and could be more uniformly dispersed in the AC resin, the adhesion of the N-CDs/PANI-AC coating was better than that of the PANI-AC coating.

Automated summary

Zero-dimensional nitrogen-doped carbon dots (N-CDs) were used as a hard template in the polymerization system to synthesize small-sized, monodisperse, and highly conductive N-CDs/PANI nanocomposites. These nanocomposites were then added to acrylic resin, resulting in coatings with excellent corrosion resistance and antifouling performances. Compared to PANI, the N-CDs/PANI showed significantly improved anticorrosion and antifouling properties. The N-CDs/PANI-AC coating exhibited better adhesion and higher protection efficiency, with a 5 times increase in the protection efficiency of the AC resin coating.