Influence of SiO2 Content and Exposure Periods on the Anticorrosion Behavior of Epoxy Nanocomposite Coatings

Epoxy coating formulations containing 1%, 3%, and 5% SiO2 nanoparticles were produced and applied on a mild steel substrate to achieve the objective of high performance corrosion resistance. The electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) technique was employed to measure the anticorrosive properties of coatings. The corrosion tests were performed by exposing the coated samples in a solution of 3.5% NaCl for different periods of time, varied from 1 h and up to 30 days. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) analyses revealed the presence of nanoparticles in the final cured samples. Establishing the incorporation of the nanoparticles in the coating formulations was confirmed by employing both of XRD and FT-IR techniques. The FT-IR spectra have proved to be satisfactory indicating that there was a complete reaction between the epoxy resin with the hardener. EIS measurements confirmed that the presence and the increase of SiO2 nanoparticles greatly improved the corrosion resistance of the epoxy coating. The highest corrosion resistance for the coatings was obtained for the formulation with 5% SiO2 nanoparticles content, particularly with prolonging the immersion time to 30 days.