New type of tri‐pyridyl inhibitor‐loaded polyaniline nanospheres for durable protection anticorrosion coatings

Abstract

AbstractPolyaniline (PANI) is considered as one of the most promising corrosion inhibitors because of its unique redox and environmental stability. Pyridine and its derivatives can chelate metal ions during corrosion, forming an inert protective layer on the metal surface to achieve the anticorrosion effect. Therefore, polyaniline is combined with pyridine together to achieve deep anticorrosion in this work. 4‐((2,2′:6′,2″‐terpyridin)‐4′‐yl)aniline (TPY) and 1,3,5‐benzenetricarbonyl chloride (TMC) were applied to synthesize a novel corrosion inhibitor N1, N3, N5‐tri (4‐((2,2′: 6′, 2′‐tri‐pyridine)‐4′‐yl) phenyl) benzene‐1,3,5‐tri‐formamide (TBT). Then, TBT was in situ loaded onto the PANI surface to obtain the composite TPANI. The TPANI was successfully dispersed in epoxy resin (EP) at various dosages to prepare composite coatings. Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy and salt fog tests were employed to evaluate the performance of the coatings. After experimentation, we discovered that when the TPANI content was 0.25 wt%, the impedance value remained stable at 5.83 × 109 Ω cm2 after immersing the coatings in a 3.5 wt% NaCl solution for 28 days. In contrast, the EP coating exhibited a resistance decrease ranging from 9.56 × 109 to 7.8 × 108 Ω cm2 within the same soaking time, decreasing by an order of magnitude, while the TPANI‐0.25% coating still maintaining a high order of magnitude. These results indicated that the TPANI filler effectively preserved long‐term stability and provided persistent protection against corrosion. The protective mechanism of TPANI composite coatings was further elucidated through detailed analysis. Overall, the incorporation of TPANI into the epoxy resin yielded promising results, demonstrating its potential as an effective corrosion inhibitor for protective coatings.