Titanate–polyurethane–chitosan ternary nanocomposite as an efficient coating for steel against corrosion

Abstract

In this study, a titanate–polyurethane–chitosan ternary nanocomposite was prepared by physical mixing. Sodium titanate nanotubes (Na-TNTs) were prepared by the hydrothermal method, and chitosan was extracted from shrimp shell. Na-TNTs were mixed with polyurethane (PU) of different ratios by weight, and chitosan was added after optimization. All of the nanocomposite samples were characterized by field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), and the mechanical properties were investigated by abrasion, adhesion pull-off, impact resistance, and T-bending tests. The anticorrosion ability was tested by the salt spray method. The obtained results revealed that the binary composite of PU and 1.5% Na-TNTs exhibited remarkable anticorrosion activity among all the binary composites where the disbonded area 5% compared to blank PU 19% and adhesion 5.1 MPa compared to blank 3.5 MPa, while the ternary composite containing 4% chitosan exhibited the best anticorrosion activity where the disbonded area 2% and also exhibit better adhesion 7.9 MPa.