NiO nanofiller dispersed hybrid Soy epoxy anticorrosive coatings

Sustainable development requires greener modifications of petro-based polymers and environment benign alternatives. Here we report, formulation of sustainable vegetable (soy) oil based epoxy polymer blends (ESODG), and their green colored nickel oxide (NiO) based organic-inorganic hybrid (ESODG-PA-Nip) nanocomposites (NCs). Along with additional improvements over generic shortcomings of DGEBA epoxies, the polymeric NC formulation can substitute up to 50% of synthetic epoxy polymer. ESODG-PA-NiO imbibes various value added properties of synthetic polymers but the use of ESO and reduction in the use of organic solvents lead to a sharp decrease in volatile organic components (VOCs). The incorporation of NiO and formulation of stable NCs were confirmed by Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR), H-1 and C-13 nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). Further, the anticorrosive performance of these coatings have been investigated using potentiodynamic polarization (PDP), electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS), and salt (5 wt.% NaCl vapors) mist techniques. It was observed that with the increased NiO concentration in NC improved, the thermal stability, physicochemical/mechanical properties, hydrophobicity, lowering of current density (I-corr), and higher pore resistance (3.5 wt.% NaCl and HCl solutions) values. The excellent anticorrosive performance of ESODGPA-NiO hybrid is mainly governed by the electrostatic interaction between NiO and ESODG-PA, which provide additional locking/sealing effect and rectified polymeric artifacts and can be used as a surface decorative/ protective anticorrosive coating.