Comparative tribological and corrosion resistance properties of epoxy composite coatings reinforced with functionalized fullerene C60 and graphene

This study investigated the effects of incorporation of two different shapes functionalization fullerene C60 (FC60) and functionalization graphene (FG), into the polymer matrix on the tribological and anti-corrosion performances of epoxy coating. The structural and morphological characterization was examined using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, Raman spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy and scanning electron microscopy. It was found that the functional groups had been grafted on the surface of C60 and G. The tribological and anti-corrosion results indicated that composite coatings showed a lower friction coefficient, wear traces area and higher anti-corrosion in comparison with neat epoxy, owing to the balance of reinforcement, lubrication and barrier properties of nanofillers and cracks generated by them, and optimal additive concentration of FC60 and FG both were 0.5 wt.%. Furthermore, this work opens up that FC60/EP coatings exhibited better tribological performance but worse corrosion resistance ability compared with FG/EP coatings due to the different shapes of nanofillers. Different tribological and anti-corrosion mechanisms were analyzed in details. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.