In-situ grafted graphene oxide-based waterborne epoxy curing agent for reinforcement corrosion protection of waterborne epoxy coating

Well-dispersed graphene oxide (GO) in resin matrix has been found for improving corrosion protection performance of the coatings. In this paper, a new strategy relying on waterborne epoxy curing agent contained GO (GOWCA) was developed, which was prepared via endcapping, modifying and in-situ grafting process. Wherein, endcapping includes blocking the high-activity hydrogen which is used to modulate curing activity. And the modifying process introduces homologous epoxy segment so as to improve compatibility between curing agent, resin matrix and GO. Attributing to this evolvement of WCA and superior barrier effects of GO, the epoxy coatings cured by GO-WCA exhibit desirable corrosion protection capacity. Besides, the failure mode is discovered as bubbling. This environmentally-friendly waterborne curing agent, only with 4.2 g/L VOC content, is anticipated to become available in diverse waterborne epoxy coatings system with excellent barrier property.

Automated summary

The research focused on using waterborne epoxy curing agent containing GO to enhance the corrosion protection performance of epoxy resin coatings. The new strategy involved endcapping, modifying, and in-situ grafting processes to develop a curing agent with superior barrier effects and environmentally-friendly characteristics, exhibiting desirable corrosion protection capacity with a low VOC content.