Amorphous cellulose edge-functionalized graphene oxide for anticorrosive reinforcement of waterborne epoxy coatings

Graphene oxide (GO) has been extensively used as a filler in anticorrosion coatings; however, it is still limited by its dispersity and interfacial compatibility in the coating matrix. In this study, amorphous cellulose (AC) edge-functionalized GO was fabricated by electrostatic self-assembly of negatively charged AC (NAC) and positively charged GO (NGO). The assembly structure was characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and further directly observed by high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM). NAC enhanced the anticorrosion performance of NGO as a nano-filler in waterborne epoxy resin (WEP) coatings, because the NAC/NGO composite was well dispersed and had strong interfacial interactions with the matrix. Furthermore, even when the immersion time was 1024 h, impedance values of 2.0 wt% NAC/NGO@EP at the low-frequency (f = 0.1 Hz) was 8.955 x 108 O center dot cm2 , which is three orders of magnitude higher than that of pure epoxy resin (EP). Thus, the developed method of amorphization and electrostatic self-assembly is suitable to fabricate composites of cellulose and other two-dimensional (2D) materials.

Automated summary

In this study, amorphous cellulose (AC) edge-functionalized graphene oxide (GO) was fabricated by electrostatic self-assembly. The composite showed improved dispersity and interfacial compatibility, leading to enhanced anticorrosion performance in waterborne epoxy resin (WEP) coatings.