In-situ modulation of interactions between polyaniline and graphene oxide films to develop waterborne epoxy anticorrosion coatings.

Incorporation of GO/PANI could enhance anticorrosion performance of WEP coating by synergetic effects between GO and PANI. • The prepared GO/PANI possesses an outstanding dispersibility in waterborne coatings. • The GO/PANI has excellent electrochemical properties and can significantly block the small molecules. • The preparation of GO/PANI/WEP coating is very simple. • The GO/PANI/WEP coating plays a remarkable anti-corrosion performance. • The GO/PANI/WEP coating is environmentally friendly owing to low volatile organic content. We reported the moderate synthesis of graphene oxide/polyaniline composite (GO/PANI) via in-situ polymerization. The Raman spectra, X-ray diffraction (XRD) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) indicated that strong π-π interactions occurred between GO and PANI. The as-prepared composite showed the excellent water dispersion ability, remarkable electrochemical properties, outstanding water barrier effect and thermal stability, which made them appropriate as a corrosion inhibitor for waterborne anticorrosion coatings. Compared with pure waterborne epoxy (WEP) coating, the prepared GO/PANI/WEP coatings exhibited remarkably reinforced anticorrosion performances, which were confirmed by the results of the polarization curves and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS). The superior anticorrosion performances of GO/PANI/WEP coatings were mainly attributed to the synergistic effect of GO as the physical barrier and PANI as the conducting polymers. The strategy for in-situ polymerization of PANI on the GO provides an effective method to develop other GO/conducting polymers composites for the further applications in waterborne anticorrosion coatings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]