Performance of corrosion protective epoxy blend-based nanocomposite coatings: a review

Epoxy is a thermosetting polymer with exceptional mechanical robustness, thermal stability, and chemical resistance. This article is devoted to updating development, processing, and physicochemical characterizations of epoxy-based anti-corrosion coatings. Incorporation of different polymers in epoxy matrix has motivated extensive research progress in the field of corrosion protection. Epoxy has been blended with polyaniline, polypyrrole, polythiophene, polyamide, polyester, polyurethane, poly(vinyl alcohol), and polydimethylsiloxane to form corrosion protective coatings. The addition of conducting polymer and nanofiller to epoxy matrix modified the nanocomposite morphology and facilitated the development of passive layer at metal/polymer interface. Consequently, nanocomposite coatings act as physical barrier to hinder the penetration of corrosive ions. Likewise, fine dispersion of nanocarbon and inorganic nanoparticles in compatible blends of epoxy/polyamide, epoxy/polyester, epoxy/polyurethane, and epoxy/poly(vinyl alcohol) has resulted in improved adhesion, wear, barrier and anticorrosion properties of the nanocomposite coatings. Design of epoxy blend-based nano-architectures may facilitate appropriate tailoring of overall performance of the resulting anti-corrosion coatings for advance technical applications including aerospace, automotive, construction, electronic devices, and biomedical relevances. New processing techniques may overcome challenges toward high performance future epoxy-based coatings.