Dual-action epoxy coating with anti-corrosion and antibacterial properties based on well-dispersed ZnO/basalt composite

The impact of microbial corrosion and seawater erosion on the utilization of marine resources poses significant challenges to organic coatings. A convenient preparation method of ZnO/basalt composites was proposed for the anti-corrosive and antibacterial dual functional coating. To achieve multifunctional design of the composites, basalt was first etched as the framework to provide both a filling structure and chemical reaction sites for the uniform and stable assembly of ZnO nanoparticles. Subsequently, ZnO was bonded onto the surface of etched basalt (EB) to create antibacterial etched basalt (ZEB), which can release reactive oxygen species (ROS) under light exposure for effective antibacterial action. The results demonstrated that P. aeruginosa PAO1 in solution could be efficiently killed even after 14 days, and |Z|0.01Hz remained at 10 GΩ cm2 after 63 days. The high density and strong connection of ZnO ensure the coating's superior bactericidal efficiency. Moreover, the presence of ZnO provides steric hindrance for the basalt scale, which benefits the dispersion of the basalt scale in the resin and enhances the anti-corrosion performance.