Fluorine free nanoparticles for superhydrophobic, self-cleaning, and anticorrosive epoxy coatings for steel protection in marine medium

Abstract

Cerium myristate nanoparticles were introduced as a superhydrophobic, anticorrosive additive for protecting steel corrosion in the marine medium. Cerium myristate nanoparticles with hydrophobic characteristics were synthesized via a facile strategy. The microscopic analysis revealed square-shaped cerium myristate nanoparticles. Cerium myristate-epoxy coatings exhibited a maximum contact angle (151.7°) at 15 wt% myristic acid. The surface analysis of the coatings through atomic force microscopy (AFM), determined the roughness factor Ra = 216 nm. The superhydrophobic epoxy coatings significantly minimized the contact area of steel and corrosive medium and beneficiated a three-fold increment in the corrosion resistance than bare epoxy coating. The electrochemical analysis of the coating provided conclusive evidence for the above. In addition, the prepared coating exhibited excellent self-cleaning ability, providing further advantage to protect the coating from external contaminants in seawater. The present work established a fluorine free, self-cleaning, anticorrosive and superhydrophobic cerium myristate deposited epoxy coating through a simple route for protecting steel from marine environment.