Bio-inspired electrochemical corrosion coatings derived from graphene/natural lacquer composites

Abstract

Protective corrosion coatings are preferably composed of available, environmentally friendly, and low-volatility organic compounds. Herein, new excellent corrosion graphene/raw lacquer composite coatings were formed, in which waterborne graphene was modified by taking lignin tripolymer (LT) as an aqueous stabilizer and subsequently adding to raw lacquer (RL). Graphene/lacquer composite coatings were achieved by an eco-friendly fabrication process. The structure and thermostability of the lignin derivative were studied by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) and thermogravimetry (TG), respectively, while the composition of the LT was characterized by Raman spectrometry. And the experimental result revealed that LT was an effective graphene dispersant (LTG) up to 60 d without any precipitation. Besides, the SEM of the graphene/lacquer coatings revealed that the excellent protection properties were highly attributable to the formation of a very rough surface, because of the highly dispersed nature of the graphene nanoparticles. Also, the corrosion behavior of the composite coatings on a metal substrate were studied by polarization curve analysis and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS). According to the electrochemical corrosion tests, the lacquer composite coating with 5 wt% LTG dispersion (RL/LTG-5, containing 0.3 wt% graphene) possessed excellent corrosion resistance, making it suitable for protecting bare metal substrates.