Polybenzopyrrole/nano-alumina composite blend with zirconium silicate reinforced epoxy as protective coating to subside corrosion of carbon steel within a dilute NaCl solution

The present work inspects the corrosion retardation of carbon steel by zirconium silicate reinforced epoxy blended with fabricated (PB/AN) polybenzopyrrole/nano-alumina composite, termed as PB/AN@ZE coating. Nano-alumina (AN), polymer polybenzopyrrole (PB), and polymer nanocomposite (PB/AN) were conveniently synthesized and their structural, thermal and morphological information were confirmed through Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, Thermogravimetric analysis, Atomic Force Microscopy and Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscopy. The molecular dynamics computation data evidence that the designed composite PB/AN is highly stable and found to have the interaction energy of 67.63 eV. Anti-wettability behaviour of the formulated coating was examined using Contact-angle Goniometer. The corrosion-resistant behaviour with different weight% loading of PB/AN in the zirconium silicate reinforced epoxy coating on low-carbon steel was examined in 3.5 % NaCl by using EIS or Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy and PDP or Potentiodynamic polarisation studies. The EIS and PDP results of 0.25% PB/AN@ZE coating indicated the excellent barrier to control the corrosion kinetics with high protection efficiency of 97.14 % even after 24 days immersion in NaCl solution and damage induced coating (kept immersed for 24 h in NaCl) was evidenced with a high impedance value of 1.48 x 109 omega.cm2.