Corrosion protection of PPy-Ti3C2-modifed epoxy zinc-rich coatings in dilute NaCl solution

Epoxy zinc-rich coating (ZRC) is characterized by massive Zn particles, which will bring potential pressure to environmental protection. MXene materials have evoked considerable interest in various areas due to their superior thin-layered architecture, outstanding electrochemical and mechanical properties. Herein, Polypyrrole (PPy)-Ti3C2 hybrid was synthesized by in-situ polymerization reaction of pyrrole and added to the epoxy zinc-rich coatings to maintain outstanding anticorrosive property of the coatings with reduced Zn content. The innovation of the work was the role of PPy-Ti3C2 in boosting coating's anticorrosive performances for ZRCs with different Zn content was analyzed. Electrochemical test and salt spray test results showed that shielding-increase coefficient of P-Ti3C2-40ZRC (40 wt% Zn) achieved 1.0 × 105 after immersion for 70 days. The increment of cathodic protection duration was around 20 days. The excellent corrosion resistance was mainly attributed to the dispersed PPy-Ti3C2 connected with Zn particles and formed a complete Zn-PPy-Ti3C2-Zn network in P-Ti3C2-40ZRC, which advanced the utilization rate of Zn particles.