Conducting Polyaniline Nanoparticles and Their Dispersion for Waterborne Corrosion Protection Coatings

A novel approach for preparing waterborne corrosion protection polyaniline (PANI)-containing coatings was developed. First, conducting polyaniline/partially phosphorylated poly(vinyl alcohol) (PANI/P-PVA) spherical nanoparticles with significant dispersibility in aqueous media were prepared by the chemical oxidative dispersion polymerization in presence of partially phosphorylated poly(vinyl alcohol) (P-PVA). The PANI/P-PVA-containing coatings with different PANI/P-PVA contents were then prepared, employing waterborne epoxy resin as the matrix. The corrosion protection property of PANI/P-PVA-containing coatings on mild steel was investigated by salt spray test and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) technique in 3.0 wt % NaCl aqueous solution. The results indicated that the waterborne PANI/P-PVA-containing coatings (PANI/P-PVA content, 2.5 wt %) could offer high protection because the impedance values remained at higher than 1 × 107 Ω cm2 after 30 days of salt spray tests. All the results were compared with these of the waterborne coatings containing PANI nanoparticles in the emeraldine salt form (PANI ES), and the protection mechanism was also proposed with the evidence of scanning electron microscope (SEM) and X-ray photoelectron spectrometry (XPS).